Crazy Days in Wu
by TotallyNuts
Summary: The generals of Wu are enjoying life in Ancient China. Follow them in their crazy and not so crazy adventures of their everyday lives!
1. I'm Too Old For This

Firstly, for any lawyers wanting to knock on my door, I do not own Dynasty Warriors or Koei. If I did, I'd be the happiest girl alive, trust me! 

Secondly, this is the introductory chapter, so it's quite descriptive (the humour will come later!). If you notice any weird spellings, it's because I'm British and I don't do the American spellings. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 1- I'm too old for this…**

The sun was shining over the Wu horizon and the birds were tweeting. Not a cloud was in the brilliantly blue sky and any normal person would think that it would be a wonderful, peaceful, normal day. However, Sun Jian knew better…

He stirred from his surprisingly peaceful sleep and moved about underneath the luxurious silk sheets before opening his eyes. He adjusted them to the light filtering in through the curtain and looked around. His room was elaborate and well decorated, full of fine art, weapons and gold. Yes, he had worked hard to get where he was. Endless years spent on the battlefield, constant discussions, and never-ending chaos. But there had been that empty spot in his heart ever since his wife had died ten years ago. He had felt a bit lonely, but the children made sure that he really never was. He was never lonely here. It was impossible.

The bedroom door opened and Jian looked at the person whose head popped through. It was just a maid, thank the gods. He just couldn't deal with any trouble this early in the morning.

"Lord Sun Jian? Breakfast is served."

"Thank you, I'll be down soon."

The maid then left hurriedly allowing Sun Jian to get ready. Jian sighed and got up out of his oh-so-comfortable bed. Breakfast was of course the most important meal of the day, but the one that Sun Jian looked forward to the least. Morning meant that the generals had hangovers, were grouchy, and still half asleep, making sure that breakfast was served up with a side order of trouble.

It was mainly trouble from Sun Ce, Jian's eldest son, who was a bit of a troublemaker. He would always play pranks on everyone and generally cause bother. The only place he really applied himself was on the battlefield, where he really showed everyone what he was made of. Give the boy a pair of tonfas and he could rule the world!

In contrast, Jian's other son, Sun Quan, was much more reserved, serious, and always with his head in a book. Visitors would always say he had great things coming to him, and Jian believed them. He would have rather had Quan be first to the throne rather than Ce- China was in enough chaos without having Ce rule!

Jian's sons would argue for his affections, but Jian learned to ignore the ongoing debate and concentrate on his youngest and only daughter, Sun Shang Xiang. She was rebellious in her own right and did not take crap from anyone. Sun Jian knew she was different when she was little and she chose to play with swords rather than dolls, but he didn't mind. At least she wasn't chasing guys like some of the other girls her age!

Of course, that meant competition between the three Sun children, but not about who was Sun Jian's favourite- it was more a fight for power! The Suns were definitely known for their fieriness and sheer determination, and nothing stopped them.

Sun Jian, once he got changed and ready, opened his velvet curtains and looked out onto the castle grounds. It was suspiciously quiet- everyone lived in the castle together so noise was expected. He scanned the courtyard below for a sign of life. Normally when it was this quiet, something was up, or mischief was around the corner. It was not that he was a strict man, but that sometimes he really felt his age. He was in his forties and wanted to make sure that his children and the other generals knew what to do after he had gone. Jian walked away from the window and headed for the door, picking up his favourite sword on the way.

He opened the door and stepped out of his room, only to find himself nearly knocked over by a running Gan Ning who was carrying Lu Xun's hat and waving it in the air. Ning then disappeared round a corner, and Jian moved away from the wall that he was now backed onto. He regained his composure, and started on his way to the dining room. Once again someone nearly ran into him, except this time it was Lu Xun, trying to look for the mischievous pirate.

"I'm so sorry Lord Sun Jian! I was looking for Gan Ning- I think he's stolen my hat!"

Jian sighed, and pointed in the direction he had just walked from. Lu Xun bowed politely, and carried on in his chase. Yep, it was a normal day in Wu…

* * *

So what do you think of my first fanfic attempt? Review please! 


	2. The Feminine Touch

No I still don't own Dynasty Warriors or Koei...

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! You guys are great :) I was so happy, I decided to update a lot sooner than I imagined (I've just finished a whole stack of exams so more free time- yay!). Hope you all enjoy this chapter, and in future chapters more charatcers will be properly inroduced (Zhou Yu in next one, Shen Xia!)

* * *

**Chapter 2- The Feminine Touch**

"Why do you have to be so damn lazy?"

Da Qiao used a fluffed up pillow to smack her husband around his head. This was a usual morning routine- they would both be awoken by a maid (or the castle gong for guaranteed success!), but Sun Ce would always go back to sleep. It somewhat annoyed Da. She never liked going to breakfast alone, or with a half asleep husband for that matter! She prided herself on her appearance, and that, to her, also meant Ce's. She wanted to show that she was a good wife, and wanted her reputation to be as good as possible. Ce grunted as the pillow hit his head, and turned onto his side, burying his head underneath the duvet.

"We're going to be late for breakfast!" Da exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips as she stood next to the bed. She was already dressed and up, and was now waiting impatiently on Ce.

"Hmmmm……"

"You like breakfast! And I'm hungry…"

"Hmmmm……"

"Is that all you're going to say?"

"Hmmmm……"

Da pouted, and then suddenly thought of something. She walked over to her dresser table, and pulled out of a draw a flowery hair clip. It was a large bright red one, with a jewel in the middle. She grinned, and went back to the bed- Ce was dozing again. Slowly, carefully, and quietly, she undid the hairclip, moving in on her target…

* * *

A now cautious Sun Jian entered the large Wu dining hall reserved for the generals and the Sun family. In the middle of the room was the large familiar dining table where they all sat together each breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and around it, everyone's chairs. 

"Good morning Dad- nice sleep?"

Jian looked at Sun Quan, who was already sat in his seat at one end of the table. "Yes Quan, it's just I was nearly trampled this morning…"

"Right… are you going to sit down?"

Sun Jian nodded, and walked over to his large chair at the head of the table. The other generals on the table, Huang Gai, Zhou Tai, Lu Meng, Gan Ning, Lu Xun (plus hat!), Taishi Ci, Zhou Yu (with a very smiley Xiao Qiao) said their 'good mornings', but Jian, as usual, noticed the absence of Sun Ce and Da Qiao, as well as his daughter Sun Shang Xiang. He guessed that, since Ce and Shang Xiang both had a thing for lateness, they were still asleep. He did think about dragging them out of bed, but they were both pretty good with their weapons, and didn't want to risk it!

"I see you got your hat back Lu Xun," Jian started as he began to eat his breakfast.

"Yes- _someone _thought it was funny to stick it on a flagpole so I can't reach it!"

Gan Ning chuckled in his seat. "It's not my fault you're so easy to wind up!"

"But I'm always the victim of your pranks," Xun moaned. "And everyone else's. Remember when Taishi Ci painted love hearts on my cheeks, and they stained my skin for a week?"

Ci laughed. "One, you were fast asleep, and two, it was too tempting!"

"But I had to use Xiao's foundation to cover it up! How embarrassing do you think that was?"

"I thought you looked very nice!" Xiao said cheerily. "The foundation really brought out the natural glow of your skin…"

Lu Xun glanced at Xiao Qiao, who beamed a smile at him. She wasn't rubbing it in; he knew that Xiao was just giving her opinion.

"Thank you Xiao- at least you have good intentions." Lu Xun then went back to eating. He'd occasionally look up and give Gan Ning and Taishi Ci 'evil' glares, but being the cute and innocent Lu Xun, he wasn't very good at it. He still looked young, despite being 20 years old. It was a shame he was still treated like he was young, especially by the more 'playful' generals, namely Sun Ce, Ning and Ci. But he could always kick their asses in sparring sessions!

Sun Jian was just beginning to think about where his other children and daughter-in-law were, until the generals' conversations were interrupted by loud laughter coming from outside. It was female laughter, and it sounded like whatever had caused it had to be funny.

Suddenly, a red faced Sun Shang Xiang entered the hall, in her usual battle garb, laughing her head off!

"No need to worry about me not being female enough Dad!" she tried say to him through laughs. She walked over to her seat between Sun Quan and Huang Gai and sat down.

Jian looked confused. "What do you mean Shang Xiang?"

"Let's just say someone's finally coming out!" She then calmly put some food on the plate, just as the remaining two entered the hall.

Everyone on the table (save for Shang Xiang who was now happily eating and trying to suppress laughter!) stared at Sun Ce as he and his wife took their seats opposite Quan and Shang Xiang. Ce noticed that it was quiet, but just ignored it and took his food.

"So everyone, what's up?" he asked.

Nobody said anything. Instead, their jaws were now dropped, and their eyes still staring at him. Da and Shang Xiang were just smiling at each other.

"What's going on guys?" he asked again. "Listen, I've already had my sister stare at me like that and burst into a fit of giggles. Now, either it's my drop dead gorgeous looks, which it probably is, or you guys have some serious problem! Zhou Yu, I trust you, what's wrong?"

Zhou Yu looked nervously at his friend. How could he have not noticed that he had a flowery hair clip on the side of his head? Was Ce that blind and stupid? If he was, Wu was in serious trouble!

"Sun Ce," he said cautiously, "did you not look in the mirror this morning?"

"I know I look good already…why?"

"Well," Yu continued, "something's different about you today." He then snickered to himself.

Xiao looked at Ce in awe. "Hey, that's Da's!"

"What's Da's?" Ce asked, taking a sip of juice.

"Your hairclip! It's Da's, and may I say it suits you very much."

"I honestly have no idea what you're on about Xiao," Sun Ce said as he began to feel the side of his head, "I'm all man, why the hell would I be wearing a-". Just then, he felt the flower in his hair. He looked at his wife, then at Sun Shang Xiang, and the two women burst into giggles once again.

"Nice flower Ce!" Taishi Ci called from the end of the table.

"Yeah, maybe you can do a dance for us!" Gan Ning added.

Ce immediately unfastened the flower from his hair and took it out. "Was it you who did this?" he said to Shang Xiang.

"What? Why is it that whenever something happens you think it's me? Why don't you ask Da?" She smiled. "It is her clip after all…"

"Da?"

"Yes Ce?"

"Did you put the clip in my hair?"

"Maybe…"

"You? My sweet little wife, playing a trick on me?"

Da giggled. "You brought it on yourself! You shouldn't have gone back to sleep! Besides, you looked cute…Qiao Ce!"

Sun Ce's face changed to a lovely shade of red as the other generals smirked at him. Even Sun Jian couldn't help but smile! Quan and Shang Xiang were now, to Ce's slight annoyance, doing girly impressions of him, joking that Ce was more of a girl than Shang! Ce knew he wasn't going to hear the end of this.


	3. Zhou Yu's Problem

Dynasty Warriors belongs to Koei, and both of them have nothing to do with me. I don't own them. And I never will!

Thank you for your reviews again! This chapter is a bit short, but hopefully just as good as the others. Zhou Yu is main character in this chapter- enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 3- Zhou Yu's Problem**

After breakfast, Zhou Yu found himself alone in the library, just reading a book and enjoying the calm. Normally Sun Ce would join him, but Ce was now hiding in embarrassment in his room after the 'flower' incident! The other generals were outside sparring, and Yu could hear the sword clashes from where he sat by the window. He could also hear them joking about Sun Ce, but he knew Ce well, and suspected by lunch time he'd be back out of his room and laughing at himself with the others.

Zhou Yu tore himself from his book and looked out of the window. The sun was still shining, and he didn't really want to waste the day sitting indoors. He wasn't in the mood for sparring…well that was what he had told everyone else! That morning, Xiao has spent some time fixing his hair and making it look nice. She loved fussing over him like a pet, and of course Yu didn't mind. But he didn't want to mess his hair up. No, it wasn't because he was vain, but that he didn't want Xiao to moan at him for messing it up! Once, Xiao had made him dinner especially, but he had returned late from a meeting with Sun Jian, and when he returned he found her sobbing her little heart out, crying that he stood her up, and that Yu would rather spend the evening with the other generals than her! From then on, he double checked everything with his wife first- seeing her upset was the last thing he wanted. And he certainly didn't want the dreaded silent treatment.

"Zhouie?"

Zhou Yu cringed when he heard his 'name' being called out. It was Xiao, using her nickname for him. He was lucky that the other generals weren't around to hear that- surely they'd be teasing him too! Yu turned to the door, and in entered Xiao Qiao, followed by her older sister Da.

"Why aren't you sparring with the others Zhouie?" asked Xiao as she went to sit by the window next to him. She gave a brief glance at his book, before looking at his face. She didn't care much for books or war for that matter, just Zhou Yu's beautiful face!

"I wasn't up for it. Ce's usually my sparring partner, and he's still hiding isn't he?"

Da giggled. "Yes, but I suspect he'll be out soon. That man can't go without food for more than a few hours!"

"So what's my lovely husband up to?"

Zhou Yu looked back out of the window. "Just reading, watching the others…"

"Well," Xiao said affirmatively, "you need to loosen up. All you seem to do is spend all your time training, or reading, or in meetings. Why don't you have some fun?"

"What do you mean, fun?"

"I don't think he knows what fun is!" Da whispered in Xiao's ear. She was probably right though- Zhou Yu wasn't the most 'fun' guy in Wu. He wasn't completely dead inside though. He enjoyed the occasional laugh with the generals, and had been known to crack a joke once so often. But Xiao wanted to see him have fun more often.

"How about we take our horses out?" Xiao suggested. "Or we could have a little picnic in the courtyard? Something to get you out of here!"

"I don't know…"

"We can go for a walk?"

"I'm not sure."

Xiao felt ready to hit him. Honestly, there was no reasoning with that man! Da could get Sun Ce to do anything for her (except get up in the mornings, which had already been proved!), but Ce lacked the brains of Zhou Yu. Yu had great powers of persuasion, which helped greatly in his role as Wu strategist, but didn't Xiao when she wanted him to do something differently, like go out and take a break from work. He'd always compromise, and it would always be in his favour. _There must be a way_ she thought to herself.

Xiao whispered something in her sister's ear, and on hearing it, Da nodded and giggled a bit. To Zhou Yu, they were speaking some foreign language, the language of 'girly gossip', which being male, he didn't understand!

"Zhouie?"

"Yes Xiao?"

"Are you free later?"

"Erm, yes, I think I am…why?"

"Da and I are going to hold a little party this evening! Just a small one and we can all get together and talk, drink, _have fun_…"

Zhou Yu looked at his wife, who smiled sweetly at him, giving him her puppy dog eyes look. He then looked at Da, who did exactly the same. He sighed.

"And I suppose you want me to come along?"

"Of course! You're the guest of honour! What would the party be without you?"

Now Zhou Yu was suspicious. Why would they throw a party for him? He hadn't done anything particularly special to deserve one; unless they counted the time last week when he got rid of a spider out of their dance room, but that wasn't the point. A party, just for him?

"Alright I'll go."

"YAY!" The Qiaos squealed in unison. "PARTY!" They then ran out of the room to make preparations, leaving Zhou Yu sat on the window. He reopened his book and carried on reading, shutting out all of his thoughts about the 'party'. He didn't enjoy them as much as everyone else. This was mainly because he was the one dragging the drunken ones, namely Sun Ce, Gan Ning and Taishi Ci, back to their rooms to recover. He agreed to go to this one because Xiao was organising it, and he didn't want to disappoint her. The doghouse was the last place he wanted to be…

* * *

Okay- good so far? What is Xiao Qiao planning? Answer in future chapters! Don't worry, it's not far away! Next chapter- introducing the Wu trio... **Review please!** I love your reviews :) 


	4. Three Guys and a Hot Headed Princess

I do not own Dynasty Warriors or Koei!  
Now, I'm no good at writing anything with action in, so hopefully the sparring scenes will sound alright. If not, sorry:) Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the story!

* * *

**Chapter 4- Three Guys and a Hot-Headed Princess**

"He has no chance…"

Lu Meng looked at his friend Gan Ning, who had just spoken. They were sitting in the courtyard underneath a blossoming plum tree, watching as the other generals took it in turns to spar each other. They were watching Taishi Ci against Huang Gai, and they knew that Ci would lose. Huang Gai was just too strong- no one could beat him (except maybe Sun Jian after a drink!). Taishi Ci had nearly cried when his name was drawn out of Lu Xun's multi-purpose hat.

"I don't know Ning- cut him some slack! Okay, he's nowhere near as big as Huang Gai, but one of us has to. I mean, he is getting old now."

"I suppose. But still…no chance!"

Ning was right. After a few short minutes Taishi Ci had been beaten by the huge man, and was now nursing a few cuts and bruises. He went to sit next to Sun Quan, rubbing where it hurt. "Ouch!" the others heard him say. When the victorious Huang Gai patted his back, Ci nearly fell backwards, pleading for mercy!

"Alright then!" called Lu Xun. "I'll pull two more names out of the hat for the next round." He pulled out a small piece of paper, and unfurled it. "Ok, we have Lu Meng…" Lu Meng took his halberd, walked over to the sparring area, and stood in his starting position. "And your opponent will be… me? Oh, alright then…"

"Let's see what you've learnt!" said Meng as his opponent faced him, with his twin sabres at hand. He brought his halberd close, ready to attack.

"Don't underestimate me because I'm young!" Xun replied as he took his stance.

"Are you two ready?" Sun Quan called from the tree. The two, glaring at each other, nodded. "Ok then, GO!"

The pair lunged at each other, weapons in hand, striking each other. Lu Meng spun his halberd round, trying to knock over the young general, but Lu Xun was good, and was deflecting the blows with his small swords. Meng knew that Lu Xun's defence was strong, but how to break it? CLASH! A sabre hit the halberd's blade just before coming down on Xun. CLANG! The halberd pushed the sabres to the side of Xun.

Then, using what power he had left, Lu Meng side stepped, and pushed the halberd pole against Xun's back, causing him to fall forwards, flat on his face. He then put the end of his pole on Xun's back, and raised his fist in the air in triumph. Everyone cheered, and then Meng helped Lu Xun back on his feet.

"Good round Lu Xun!" said Lu Meng as they shook hands. Lu Xun nodded, and after the shake, brushed the dusty dirt from his red Wu uniform. They walked back over to the tree, where Sun Quan was now in possession of the hat. He had already gone against Zhou Tai and won, so was feeling quite smug with himself!

"Ready for the next pair?" The generals nodded. Quan took out two pieces of paper, and read them. "we have Gan Ning, and he'll be against……okay, how did this get in here?"

"How did what get in there?" asked Zhou Tai in his deep voice.

"This!" Quan waved the paper in the air. "Sun Shang Xiang!"

The generals then turned their heads in the direction of Sun Shang Xiang, who was sitting quite innocently next to her father holding her two chakrams. She gave Quan a sweet smile.

"I want to fight you guys properly! You go easy on me- how am I meant to learn when you lot do that?" She then looked at Gan Ning, and stood up with her weapons. "Ready to fight?"

Gan Ning raised his eyebrows. "No way am I fighting you!"

"Why the hell not?"

"I don't think any of us want to see you cry! Besides, I'm too strong for you and you know it…"

Shang Xiang put a hand on her hip, and pointed at the sparring area with her left chakram. "I think you're chicken! Afraid you'll lose to a woman?"

If Gan Ning couldn't resist anything, it was a challenge (wine and boats came a close second and third!). He grabbed his massive sword from his side, and got to his feet. He then walked to the sparring area. When he got there, he took his fighting stance. "Don't say I didn't warn you princess!"

Shang Xiang smiled, and ran to her place opposite him. She took her stance. "Don't worry about me- I'd be more worried about the state of your body when my chakrams are finished with you!"

"Don't hurt my baby girl!" Sun Jian shouted from the side to Gan Ning. "Go easy on her!"

"Don't listen to him!" Shang whispered to Ning. "Because I won't go easy on you!"

"Ready…GO!"

On Sun Quan's command, Shang Xiang began to circle the ex-pirate, attempting to confuse him, but whenever she tried to use her chakrams, his sword would knock them back. She would block his attacks- it was easy, as he wasn't using his full strength against her. Their weapons clashed for a second.

"Is that all you've got?" she taunted.

Ning retaliated by swinging his sword around- it came dangerously close to her. Now this was the type of fighting she wanted! She smiled and spun her chakrams around so that Ning had to duck to avoid them. Shang then cart wheeled away as he got up and started to slash the air with his blade. Sun Jian closed his eyes- what if she got hurt? She obviously didn't care much, for she was the fearless warrior princess! Back on her feet, she decided to make one final attempt to bring him down while he was getting exhausted.

She ran towards him and their weapons clashed again- they ended up in a power deadlock. Gan Ning, pushed his sword against her, trying to get her to fall over. Shang Xiang dug her feet into the ground, and pushed as hard as she could. She didn't want to admit that he was stronger than her, but her hot-headedness got in the way as she tried to win. The sweat poured off her face as she felt her feet moving in the dirt. Ning now had that look in his eye, and he applied just a little more force…

He watched as Shang Xiang slipped and fell backwards. He quickly moved forwards to grab her just before she landed flat on her back in the dirt.

"You okay?" he asked as he helped her back up.

"Yeah, thanks." She couldn't believe she had lost! She had given it her all, but what could she do about it? Train more? Study more? She had beaten Lu Xun and Sun Quan before, but the other generals were big beefy men! There wasn't a lot she could do!

"It was a good round- you did good for a woman!"

They walked back over to the tree, where Shang Xiang went to sit back next to her father. "Don't rub it in," she said quietly to him.

"I wasn't going to! It's just that I thought you did really well out there. Not a lot of generals last that long in a power deadlock, and besides, I didn't expect you to win. Gan Ning, like most of us here, is very strong. You, are a woman, and don't have the physical capabilities of a man, and-"

"Okay Dad, you can spare me the lecture!" She said before leaning against his shoulder. She put her chakrams down to the side.

Jian looked at his now exhausted daughter. "It's just that sometimes you let your fiery streak get in the way. But it's not your fault, you get it from your mother's side."

She nodded and watched as the others congratulated Gan Ning. At least he hadn't made fun of her, she thought, or rejected her challenge. She hated it whenever they saw her as weak. All she wanted was to be like them...

* * *

Backwith theguys, Gan Ning was leaningagainst the tree. He had to admit that had been a good match, even if it was with a woman! He was just relieved he hadn't hurt her (he was looking at Taishi Ci now, who was on the verge of tears!). 

"Did Huang Gai beat you that bad?" Ning asked.

Taishi Ci moaned in pain again. "Yeah, and I was wearing armour as well! If I think it hurts know, it's going to be even worse tomorrow!"

Ning nodded, and started to talk to Lu Meng and Lu Xun. Together they formed the 'Wu trio'- they'd all hang out together, with Lu Meng acting as a 'leader', Gan Ning somewhere in the middle, and Lu Xun as a 'student'. Meng and Ning would teach Xun things that Zhou Yu wouldn't, such as where the best taverns where (Ning's idea!) and how to hunt. Basically they were teaching him how to become a man without having his little head stuck in a book. This also helped with avoiding Sun Ce and Taishi Ci's jokes! Just as they had finished a conversation about tigers (random subject!), over strolled Sun Shang Xiang.

Ning looked up at her. "I take it you want a rematch?"

She laughed at him. "Nah! I thought I could, well, hang out with you guys for a bit. That's if you don't mind..."

The three men looked at each other, and then, in unison, nodded to her. She smiled at them, and squeezed herself between Lu Meng and Gan Ning. They sat in awkward silence for a few moments before she broke the ice.

"So...what's new?" she asked.

Her reply- three different sounding grunts, which she interpreted as "Nothing".

"Ok then...how about we go and do something, just us four? It'd beat hanging around here all afternoon!"

"Shang Xiang," Lu Meng started, "we're three grown men. You're a young woman. There's not a lot of things we can do together!"

"Come on!" Shang protested, nearly hitting Lu Meng."How about archery? I'm good competition- I beat my brothers last week. And I'm a damn good horserider! Just because I happen to be female doesn't mean I can't join in!"

"We're not discriminating against you Shang Xiang," said Lu Xun, being careful with his words (in case she hit him!). "It's just that it's really a guy thing. I mean, why do you want to hang out with us?"

Shang Xiang was staring up at the clear blue sky. "You three are more fun than the others. You have your own little friendship group, and always go out together. Me? I have to stay under supervision, even when I want to go out of the castle. I mean, what's the worst that can happen?"

Lu Meng was quick to reply. "You could get kidnapped, murdered, get into an accident...the list goes on, and it's worse for you. You're a princess, and do you know what would happen if, say, Cao Cao got hold of you?"

She didn't say anything, because she knew he was right. Lu Meng was always full of knowledge, and she knew better than to go against his word.

"I suppose you're right. I just want to go out and have fun like you guys. So can I come with you today? I promise I won't be any bother...please?"

Lu Xun and Lu Meng exchanged slightly worried glances. Could they handle having Sun Shang Xiang around for a few hours? Lu Xun couldn't even handle her for a minute!

"I say she can."

Xun and Meng looked at Gan Ning. "Why do you say that?" Xun asked, also giving him a glance as if to say _Are you nuts?_

"Well, she's already proved herself sparring against me, and we can't have the little princess locked away in her castle all day can we? Besides, it might be good for us, having some female influence around us for once."

"Thank you!" Shang Xiang threw her arms around him, giving him a huge hug. After nearly squeezing the life out of the ex-pirate, she let go, to Ning's relief. "So what are we doing?"

After a few minutes of debating ideas, they settled on fishing. The men chose this on purpose, in the hope that she'd get put off by the guy lifestyle of sitting on a boat all day staring at the sea. Surprisingly, she said she couldn't wait, and hurried off to get ready for the trip!

"It's going to be a long day," sighed Lu Xun as he put on his hat.

"Let's just hope she loses interest after this!" said Lu Meng, standing up clutching his halberd.

Gan Ning just watched as Sun Shang Xiang disappeared into the castle. He had this strange feeling inside him, but he didn't know what it was. No, he hadn't drank any wine today, so that couldn't be it. And he hadn't eaten anything dodgy to his recollections. For some strange reason, he couldn't wait to see her again...

* * *

That was very long wasn't it! I kind of got carried away... Anyway, next chapter will be about Zhou Yu's party, and Xiao Qiao's plan will be revealed! What is she up to?  
P.S. Next update might be a teensy bit late! Next week I have 3 practice exams to revise for... but the update will definitely be next week! Gotta keep the fans happy :) 


	5. Party Preparations

Disclaimer: I don't own Koei, so I don't own Dynasty Warriors. sniff These people don't belong to me!

What did I promise you guys? The update is here! It's shorter than I expected, but it's an update. Thank you loyal reviewers- this chapters for you!

* * *

**Chapter 5- Party Preparations**

Sun Quan, one of the quieter members of the castle household, took his morning stroll around the castle, enjoying the newly found peace. Sun Ce had emerged from his room, and was now with Zhou Yu somewhere ('Probably in the marketplace' thought Quan). Sun Shang Xiang had also left with Lu Meng, Gan Ning and Lu Xun out to go fishing, so that didn't leave Quan with a lot to do. Normally he'd be discussing strategy with Zhou Yu or helping out in political affairs with Sun Jian, but today was just one of those days where nobody did a lot. It was a lovely lazy day, and it was fair to say that everyone enjoyed these, especially the lazy generals (namely Sun Ce, Taishi Ci and Gan Ning).

Quan turned a corner and headed towards the hall. He heard a door open and close shut, so he turned around to see none other than his 'bodyguard' Zhou Tai come out of a room. Wherever Quan was, Zhou Tai would always be near to protect him. Since saving the young prince's life a few years ago, Tai had been protective of Quan in battles and generally wherever he went outside the castle, and he felt it was his duty to do so. Not that Quan minded- at least he knew he was less likely to die on the battlefield!

"Hey Sun Quan!" Zhou Tai said as he approached his friend. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's just that there's not a lot to do. Everyone's either busy or outside. Dad's gone out with Huang Gai somewhere, and I'm bored. What were you doing in there?"

"Oh just some reading. The Qiao sisters came in and asked me for some help a few minutes ago, so I'm just going to see them. You can come along if you want… it's probably best if you do, as I have no idea what they want me to do!"

Sun Quan nodded, and followed his protector to the main hall. They stood outside the double doors, and listened in. All they could hear was giggling- Xiao's giggling from the sound of it. Was it a prank they were playing? Were they up to something? Either way, Zhou Tai loved helping out (and Xiao's sweet smile had been impossible to resist!), so he twisted the door handle and opened the door. His eyes widened when he walked in.

The normally cosy looking hall had been transformed into, well, a party room! Streamers had been draped along the walls, ribbons tied around columns, and everything glistened. Tai looked around to see, at a table, Da and Xiao Qiao huddled over a large banner, both armed with large paintbrushes.

"You came to help!" Xiao put down her brush and ran over to the two generals, who were still in awe at the décor. "Grab a brush and help me and Da!" She dragged them by the arms over to the table, and handed them a brush each.

Standing over the sign, Sun Quan read the words. He nearly laughed at it. "Happy ZHOU YU day?"

Xiao giggled. "Yes! We're having a party in his honour!"

"What did he do to deserve a party?"

"Being a good husband…and……………and………………and being himself!" She used some red coloured paint to colour in the letters while Da painted some dragons on the side.

Zhou Tai and Sun Quan then watched as the Qiaos giggled to themselves. It was odd that Zhou Yu had all of a sudden become someone so special he deserved a party in his honour (not that they thought he didn't do much!). It was just that Zhou Yu didn't normally enjoy parties. He'd go along, have a drink, but didn't completely get in the party spirit. He was the total opposite to Sun Ce! Tai suspected something…

"Ladies," he asked, "are you up to something?"

Da looked up at him, and pulled a face, pretending to look disgusted! "Zhou Tai, why would us ladies pull such a trick? We are ladies of the castle, and we are elegant and smart! How could you think such a thing!" At this point Xiao was giggling so much she nearly knocked the pot of paint onto the floor, and Zhou Tai stood on the spot looking quite ashamed of himself, until Da started laughing.

"We'll let you in on something," whispered Xiao, "but you have to swear you won't tell anyone!"

"Alright then!" Quan said, moving closer so he could hear. Xiao moved closer to the pair and whispered something to them. After, she giggled some more, and returned to painting.

"Lady Xiao Qiao!" Tai exclaimed. "That's not something you'd do!"

"I know!" she replied, smiling. "What do you think?"

"Well, you'd need to make him not notice what you're doing, otherwise he just won't do it."

"Right… but how?"

While Zhou Tai was explaining a strategy to Xiao, Sun Quan went to stand next to his sister-in-law. "She's serious right?" he asked.

"Yep!" Da finished painting a small dragon. "I think she wants to loosen him up a bit, make him have fun like everyone else. She says she gets jealous when Ce dances with me, even though he's normally drunk."

"But is alcohol really going to work on Zhou Yu?"

"I don't know." Da looked into the corner of the room, where Xiao had put a dozen large barrels of wine. "We'll have to wait and see!"

Quan still couldn't believe that the sweet little Qiao sister was planning on getting Zhou Yu drunk. Zhou Yu was one of those people who only drank socially and not for the sake of it, unlike a certain elder Sun brother! The wine in the Wu castle did have the effect of making everyone tipsy with only a small glass, but it was Xiao's plan to spike Yu's drink, get him so drunk he doesn't know what's what, and enjoy himself. If Sun Ce sang and danced with anyone at a party when drunk, then surely it would work wonders for the uptight Wu strategist!

* * *

Ooh the party's soon... What's going to happen to poor Zhou Yu? We'll see! Note to you guys- next week I'm on, wait for it, half term holiday! More time spent on fanfiction! Yay! Expect a big update for then :)  
Also, Happy Chinese New Year for everyone celebrating it! 


	6. Changeover

I don't own Koei or Dynasty Warriors- so don't sue me already!

Here's the next chapter for everyone! I've been not so busy this week and I'm working on the next chapter- will it be the party? Will it not be the party? Who knows! Only one way to find out... wait! Don't worry, I'll finish it soon. Laters:)

* * *

**Chapter 6- Changeover**

"That was fun wasn't it?"

Lu Meng, Gan Ning and Lu Xun glanced at the smiling Sun Shang Xiang who was now smiling cheerily at them as she packed away her fishing rod. They hadn't expected her to have that much fun- she had spent the whole time on the boat catching fish after fish like a pro! The men guessed it was the male influence that had constantly surrounded her for her entire life…

Lu Xun begged to differ with Shang Xiang. He was standing next to the bag of freshly caught fish, and he was soaking wet. The water from his hat dripped down the sides of his face and off his dark brown hair. He even had to take off his boots to tip the remaining water out! He knew it wasn't wise to sit on the edge of the boat next to an over-excited Shang Xiang. She had caught a very large fish and waved her arms about, accidentally knocking poor Lu Xun into the river. When he managed to grab on to the boat and pull himself out, he saw that she was laughing at him, but at least she helped him out.

Fishing was one hobby that Gan Ning could really get stuck into. It reminded him of his pirate days, even if there were two young generals playing about in the background. He and Lu Meng had just sat on the opposite side of the boat talking about whatever it was that two generals talked about. Ning wasn't really listening to Meng's conversation, but listening to what was happening on the other side. He heard a splash and for a minute he thought it was Sun Shang Xiang that had fallen in. He would have run over to help, but on hearing her laughter was thoroughly relieved. Of course he cared about Lu Xun. But Lu Xun was a man and could take care of himself.

"Well we've got a very large haul you guys!" Lu Meng said as he inspected the fish. "How about we sell them at the market?"

"Maybe we could trade Shang Xiang too?" suggested Lu Xun. "I'm sure we'd get a lot of gold for a princess!" He laughed, but stopped when Shang Xiang slapped his arm.

"Hey! You guys wouldn't dream of selling me!"

"Yeah," Xun said sarcastically. "What would Wu be without the hot-headed princess?" This awarded him another slap.

Lu Meng shook his head as the two younger ones chased each other around the deck. Shang Xiang was chasing Lu Xun shouting "Get back here!" and "I won't kill you- just hurt you very badly!" Meng turned to Gan Ning.

"Do you think she passed the test?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ning replied as he looked at the large bag. "She caught a lot- you didn't mind her hanging about with us?"

"Nah, she's alright. She gets along with Lu Xun well. I swear that kid spends too much time in his books, but it's probably me being his tutor. He needs to have some fun once in a while."

"Even if it's Shang Xiang chasing him and threatening him?"

"Yeah!"

The pair then watched as the other two ran back. Lu Xun was out of breath and Sun Shang Xiang was now wearing his hat. It was a bit too large for her but she was happy. In fact she was very happy! For once she had been able to get out of the castle (and the grip of the Qiao sisters, who had wanted to get her in a dress for some bizarre reason!) and have fun, and not under any direct supervision. She didn't like having to follow her father round everywhere- she wanted to be free just like the generals. They didn't have to have to ask permission to go outside…

"So what are we doing next?" she asked sweetly to Lu Meng and Gan Ning.

"Did that not tire you out?" Ning asked. Well, she had been running around all morning, and he was surprised she wasn't tired yet. It was like she had an endless supply of energy!

"Nope!" she replied, picking up her chakrams. "How about we do something I choose? You guys chose fishing so it's my turn!"

The men watched as she brought a hand up to her chin and thought carefully. They knew she wouldn't pick anything 'girly'- that just wasn't Shang Xiang. She'd most likely pick something involving weaponry of some kind…

"I've chosen!" she said after a short while. "How about we practice with each other's weapons? I don't think Lu Meng's been separated from that halberd before…"

"Do we have to spar with them?" Meng asked, holding onto his halberd. That halberd was his pride and joy! He didn't want it to end up in the wrong hands…

"Of course not! Just practice. You guys could never win with these babies anyway!" She raised her chakrams in the air so that they glistened in the sun. "Now we have to decide who swaps with whom."

Lu Meng was quick to reply. "Those are girly weapons! I'm swapping with Gan Ning…"

Ning nodded. "I only use one weapon. So Xun- swapping your pair for Shang's pair?"

"Like I have a choice!" Lu Xun reluctantly let Sun Shang Xiang take his twin sabres. She handed him her chakrams, and he was surprised at the weight of them. How could she use these? The Qiaos' fans were quite lightweight in comparison. He watched Shang Xiang as she swung his weapons around. "Be careful with those!" he called out to her.

"Relax Xun! They're pretty cool…" She tried using some of her own moves with the weapons, and found that she could adapt to them pretty well. Lu Xun's sabres were quite swift she discovered as she twirled around with them.

"How the hell can you use this thing?"

Shang and Xun turned to watch how the other two were getting along. Sure enough, Lu Meng was struggling with the weight of Gan Ning's huge sword. He obviously was too used to his beloved polearm.

Gan Ning laughed. "You wanted to trade! Besides, this halberd's quite light!"

"You'd say that wouldn't you?" Meng used two hands to grasp his 'new' weapon. "Don't break it!"

"Don't worry! You think I've never used one of these before!"

"Well have you?"

"Erm…… no."

After watching Lu Meng and Gan Ning practice, Lu Xun went back to practicing with Sun Shang Xiang.

"So Xunie?" she asked while following his instructions. "Are you going to this party that Xiao's organising?"

"Party?"

"You don't know? I spoke to her before we left, and she says that it's a party for Zhou Yu."

"What's he done?" He watched Shang Xiang as she put down his weapons and sat down next to him.

"Nothing special apparently." She joined in watching Lu Meng and Gan Ning. "Just a party, and it's tonight."

"That's a bit short notice isn't it?"

"I know. When I saw her she was giving the servants orders for decorating the banquet hall! I wonder what Dad has to say about this… Are you going?"

Lu Xun sighed. "I'll have to won't I! You know Xiao likes to make everything go to plan. Do we have to bring a guest?"

"I shouldn't think so. It's too short notice to find a guest anyway. I'm more worried about what Da's going to make me wear!" Shang Xiang shuddered at the thought of wearing a dress. Da and Xiao had managed to get (or force!) her to wear one at their weddings, and Shang hadn't worn one since. At parties she had managed to get away with a skirt and boots, but dresses? They were like poison in her eyes!

* * *

This chapter was a bit short... sorry! The next one will be a bit better! Anyway, review please! 


	7. Lets Get This Party Started pt 1

I don't own Koei or Dynasty Warriors. I never will either. (sighs) I have to say that so many times...

Here's Part 1 of 2- the party! The real fun happens next chapter don't worry! I'm just building up to it, but enjoy anyway! Also, thank you to absolutely everyone of my lovely reviewers- you guys always put a smile on my face... :)

* * *

**Chapter 7- Party Time Part 1**

The sun was setting and Xiao Qiao was running around the Wu castle making sure that everything was going to plan. If she was going to make Zhou Yu have fun, she was determined to do it right! She had made sure that everyone looked the part- the men in suits and the ladies in dresses. This had been particularly hard, and to the best of her knowledge, Sun Shang Xiang was still locked in her bedroom shouting at the red silk dress that had been laid out for her.

Now the guests (mainly generals and officers) had arrived and the music was now playing. Xiao had asked her sister Da to occupy Sun Ce and Zhou Yu just so they couldn't escape. She had even purposely locked her bedroom so that you couldn't retreat upstairs.

"Xiao!"

Xiao turned around and saw Da running towards her.

"Yes Da?"

"The food is being served now- are you coming in?"

"Is everybody there?"

"Nearly- Sun Jian is trying to drag Sun Shang Xiang out of her room and Taishi Ci's started the hunt for the wine. We'll start now- coming?"

Xiao nodded and followed Da into the banquet hall and smiled. Let the drunkenness commence!

* * *

"Please come out?"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Do you know how stupid I look?"

"No, because you won't come out!"

Sun Jian was pleading outside his daughter's bedroom door. He had been standing outside it for nearly 15 minutes as he was probably the only one with enough guts to try and get her out. He had the advantage of being her father, and he could always use her embarrassing childhood moments against her! He actually couldn't remember Sun Shang Xiang ever like dresses- she always said that she pitied the Qiaos for wearing such things. She just wasn't the girly type of girl…

"You'll laugh at me!"

"Why would I do that? I'm your father remember?"

Silence followed, and Jian heard some footsteps approach the other side of the door. Slowly the door handle turned and Shang Xiang's head popped out. He saw that she was wearing, instead of her usual red headband, a beaded headband and a pair of dangly matching earrings. He also saw that Da Qiao had succeeded in putting some (very little) makeup on the princess' face. At least it was something…

"See? You do look nice. Now, are you going to let me see the dress?" She replied by shaking her head. Jian sighed. "Please come out, for me?"

She looked at him, then down to the floor. Step by step she slowly emerged from the room, even more so when she saw that her father was smiling. Maybe she didn't look so bad after all!

"So…what do you think?" she asked.

Sun Jian was lost for words. His daughter actually looked like a woman! Sure, her stance could be improved slightly (and she looked as miserable as sin!), but she looked beautiful. Just like her mother…

"You look absolutely amazing Shang Xiang- I don't know why you were so worried in the first place!"

"Really?" She looked down at herself and the floor length short sleeved dress she wore. Da said it would show off her curves, which was not what Shang Xiang had wanted. She didn't want to become some object that men leered at, especially when there was a party downstairs full of old and partially drunk men. "I suppose it won't be so bad…"

"Exactly, and it's not as if…" He looked down at her feet. "Are those boots?"

She giggled. "Well, I've got to keep some of my tomboyish charm don't I?"

* * *

In the banquet hall, Zhou Yu sat at the head of the table staring at all of the decorations. The 'Happy Zhou Yu Day' banner was up too- this had puzzled him greatly. The generals kept coming up to him and asking him what he had done, and he didn't know!

"So Zhou Yu?" Ce asked as he filled up his glass of wine. "Enjoying yourself?"

"I honestly don't know," Yu replied. He sipped some of his wine. "It's a bit strange. I've never had an honour party before." He drank some more wine and noticed its unusual taste. It must be a new kind he thought as he drank some more.

"Good wine?"

Yu nodded. Just then, Sun Jian entered the room followed by a young woman. He had to blink twice to realise it was just Sun Shang Xiang. She walked slowly over to the table and sat in her seat, fully aware that now all eyes were on her. Da was smiling so much her pearly white teeth showed.

"Shang Xiang! You look so pretty!" she exclaimed. She also noticed that Shang Xiang was blushing like a tomato. "Don't be so embarrassed about it! You really do look nice…"

"Thanks" was the murmured answer from the embarrassed Wu princess. Sun Ce and Sun Quan were also trying to take in the new 'look' of their sister. And all that time they thought that they had an 'honorary' brother!

"Have I had too much wine, or is my sister actually wearing a DRESS?" Ce said quite loudly.

"Did you let a Qiao dress you?" asked Quan.

"So the Lady Sun is a lady?" came the remark from a tipsy Zhou Yu.

There was only so much that Sun Shang Xiang could take. She glared at the three men, quietly stood up, and stormed out of the room.

Sun Jian, who had watched it, gave a single clap to the men. "Well done," he said monotonously. "You have probably ruined any more chances of my daughter wearing a dress." The men hung their heads in shame!

"Sorry Pops," apologised Ce. "Do you want me to get her?"

"No- she'll be cooling down, but don't come crying to me if she uses her chakrams on you later."

* * *

Meanwhile in the kitchen a few generals were plotting a scheme of their own, although one was kind of dragged into it. Gan Ning and Taishi Ci had discovered Xiao's secret wine supply, and with the 'help' of Lu Xun, were planning on taking it into the courtyard to have a party of their own. Gan Ning wasn't really into the party scene- he was happy with a glass of wine (although he did prefer more than one!). Parties were only really fun when he was drunk, and Xiao had kind of made everyone promise they wouldn't get too intoxicated. But then again when had Gan Ning ever listened to what Xiao had to say?

"So what is it you're planning on doing again?" Lu Xun asked. If he was going to be in on the plan he had to at least make sure that nothing was going to go wrong. He certainly didn't want to end up in trouble!

"Taishi Ci found some spare fireworks from New Year," replied Gan Ning, "and we plan on setting them off in the courtyard. Of course we'll be celebrating with the wine…"

"Celebrating what?"

Taishi Ci laughed. "Have you not been listening? It's Happy Zhou Yu Day- for one day only! We have to celebrate our 'great' strategist sometimes." Ci then poured some of the wine into a flask. "What's in this stuff? It smells strong…"

"The stronger the better!" Ning said as he too poured some wine. "Are you going to be drinking?" he asked Xun.

"What? I'm not stooping to your level! I'm going to go back to the hall… maybe I can find another way to have fun…"

"You mean discussing historical battles with Lu Meng or talking about strategies with Zhou Yu?" Ci said. Lu Xun was silent for he knew Ci was right. He wasn't really the drinking type nor did he get into the party spirit much. He much preferred learning about things but he didn't want to seem odd…

Ning nodded to himself as Lu Xun started to fill up an empty flask. It's about time that boy learned to enjoy himself he thought as he stood up. "Right, I'm going to get the fireworks you guys. Meet me in the courtyard." He then started walking out of the kitchen and headed for the store cupboard.

* * *

"So what do you think Zhou Yu?"

"Hmm?"

"Of the party I threw for you?"

Zhou Yu nodded to his wife and took another sip from his glass. He wasn't concentrating much and he didn't know why. Normally he'd be conversing with Lu Meng and Lu Xun or trying desperately hard not to be dragged over to the dance floor by Sun Ce, but his mind was elsewhere, and he didn't know where! In fact, he didn't even know what his wife was saying- it just sounded like a blur.

"I'm glad you like it!" Xiao Qiao said as she hugged her husband tightly. "Here have another drink…" She then started to pour Yu yet another glass of 'special' wine.

Even though he was now bordering on drunk, Zhou Yu accepted the glass and gulped some down. He was getting used to it and he didn't exactly want to disappoint Xiao.

"So," Xiao started, "are you enjoying yourself?"

"Umm… yeah…"

"Good! I actually thought we could talk because you never seem to have the time to."

"Uh huh…"

"Ok then, we'll talk! Actually, I wanted to ask you if you could buy me some new dresses. You see, it's getting warmer now, and I need a new wardrobe. In fact a whole new collection! I was thinking of starting with shoes, and then maybe some…"

Her words just went in one ear and out the other. She was just talking and talking, and Zhou Yu wasn't listening one bit. He was watching as the people walked past him, the colours of the banquet hall were swirling, and there was a loud ringing sound in his head.

"… and there's that necklace I was looking at last week. It was so pretty, and it had a ruby in the centre…"

Zhou Yu had never felt like this before. He put the glass on the table and tried to get himself together. What was going on? Everything was just rushing past his eyes…

"…but I don't know much about cost. So what do you think Zhou Yu?" Xiao smiled at him. "Zhou Yu? Are you still there?"

"Yeah…"

"Were you listening to what I was saying?"

"Of course I was!"

"So… what do you say?"

"Erm… yes?"

"Oh thank you Zhou Yu!"

Of course Zhou Yu didn't have the faintest idea what he was agreeing to, but judging by the expression on his wife's face it must have been good. He smiled as she hugged him, just as Sun Ce came strolling by.

"ZHOU YU, MY BESTEST BUDDY!"

Yu looked up at Sun Ce. "Yes?"

"It's time for singing! As it's your party, I think you should start it off!"

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly…"

"Tough!" Ce said as he dragged his sworn brother from off his seat. "The stage is all yours!"

* * *

So the party has started! Whoo! What's going to happen in the next chapter you ask? That's a surprise. Even I don't know yet! But it'll be good... (goes back to typing) La la la la la... what should I make Zhou Yu do...


	8. Lets Get This Party Started pt 2

Disclaimer- I do not own Koei or Dynasty Warriors.

Ok so this may be a little late, but I've been trying to deal with something. Someone on another fanfiction site stole this fic and claimed it was theirs. They stole the first chapter and now I'm battling to get it taken down. I can't stand theft, whether it's Internet based or not. It just shouldn't happen. So if you see a copy of this out there and it's not under the name TotallyNuts (or my message board name SunShangXiang) then it's a stolen version. I dedicate this chapter to everyone who's been there to help me, especially HarborRat and lacitar13- you guys have been the greatest!

So ends my little rant- I'll keep you posted on the progress of the case. Enjoy the chapter! ..

_The song in here you will recognise as the Dynasty Warriors 3 Ending theme- I've used the Chinese Mandarin Romanised lyrics. Try singing them- they're exactly as they are in the game! I thought the song would fit in, and all DW fans know it! By the way, I don't own it so here's another disclaimer-the song is copyright Koei not me. Bye bye lawyers..._

* * *

**Chapter 8- Lets Get This Party Started pt 2**

Gan Ning lit up a lamp in the store cupboard using one of Lu Xun's many matches and walked over to one of the many crates that were in there. The Wu stores were full of explosives and weapons- they were never short of these! In one corner was all of the spare swords and armour that was used in battle and for sparring, and in the other corner of the room were the crates full of matches, fireworks and extra supplies. There were also several rolled up maps lying all over the floor- Ning had to step over these in order to get to the hidden firework box near the window.

Taishi Ci had hidden them near the window so that Sun Jian wouldn't find them and keep them for himself. These fireworks were special though- when set off they created fluorescent glittering dragons in the sky, as well as tigers and mystical creatures that seemed to merge into one another. The Wu generals had used them at New Year but hadn't used them all. Most of the generals had ended up too drunk to even remember how to light one! Gan Ning looked in the box and when he saw the explosives carefully labelled and ordered he smiled and picked it up. He started walking back towards the door when he heard an unfamiliar sound. He stopped and tried to hear it again. It was sobbing. Female sobbing…

"Hello?" he called out as he put the box on the ground. He scanned the room with his eyes but couldn't see anyone. He heard another sob and decided to walk around in the hope of seeing the person. Ning was near a stack of helmets when he saw Sun Shang Xiang crying in between two boxes of maps. "Shang Xiang?"

Shang Xiang wiped some of her tears away and looked up at him. Her face was a little bit red and tear stained so she quickly hid it behind her hands after her eyes met his. "Leave me alone," she said quietly. "Please, just go…"

"You're not even going to tell me what's wrong?" Ning stepped over the crate and knelt next to her. Of course he didn't want to see one of his closes friends upset like this. He sighed when she shook her head. "Shang- you can tell me- I'm your friend and I care about you. So, what's the matter?"

She looked up at him. "They made fun of me for wearing a dress." She pointed down at the floor length red dress she was wearing. "No wonder I don't wear them- they always make such a big deal and I look bad."

Gan Ning took a look at her. Why did she think she looked bad? She looked like a woman in the dress and it flattered her greatly. In fact, the pirate was starting to think she looked quite cute! "You don't look bad Shang, you look beautiful. And anyone who says you aren't is wrong."

Shang blushed when she heard the word 'beautiful'. She'd never considered herself to be beautiful- she had always thought that women like the Qiaos were beautiful. She smiled at Ning. "Thank you," she said , and wiped the last of the tears away. "How did you find me?"

"I was getting some fireworks and…"

"Fireworks? We're not having fireworks Xiao said."

Ning chuckled. "That's what she said, but do I listen to her? Xun, Ci and I are having a party of our own in the courtyard." He took another look at the Wu princess. "You're welcome to join us if you don't feel like going back in the hall- you can be my 'guest' if you like!" He saw Shang Xiang smile and nod, so he stood up and offered his hand to her. He helped pull her up and then went back to the box.

Shang looked at the assortment of explosives. "These are the ones from New Year! Do you know what you're doing?"

"Of course I do! No party is complete without fireworks!"

"……_Hua di wei lao, Shi ji shang pi lao, Zhuang zhuo wu suo wei…" Zhou Yu sang drunkenly on the stage. He was singing in slurred Chinese and it seemed that only the also drunk Sun Ce could understand._

"…_Bu lou chu si hao, Gu li de rong mao, Xiang shou ming yun an wei…_" Sun Ce sang his line loudly and proudly, making sure the whole room heard.

"…_Pai huai ren sheng zi wei, Wei lai can ran guang hui_…" sang Zhou Yu as he lifted his now empty 5th glass in the air. He didn't care that he was making a complete ass of himself- he wasn't even too sure of where he was! He and Sun Ce carried on singing in Chinese, missing out odd words and replacing them with slurs. The Qiaos were clapping and cheering them on, especially Xiao, who was rather enjoying the sight of her normally uptight husband fooling around and having a laugh.

"…_Zhu fu ni, Jin quan li_

_Wei ruo de mai bo he peng pei de dan hun_

_Kai tuo chu, Sheng lu yong wang wu wei_

_Ji mo shi fen, Ru meng de cun qian, Quw ren zi wo shi jie_

_Wu guang liang zhong, Miao hui de jing xiang, Reng hui fu xian yen qian_

_Wan shi jie you ding su, Xiang xin wei lai wu xian_

_Zhu fu ni, Jin quan li_

_Hua er wei ni kai fan yue guang wei ni zhao liang_

_Kai tuo chu sheng lu zhi qian wu wei_

_Zhu fu ni, Jin quan li, Mei you in wei, Mei you in wei, Mei you in wei."_

When the music stopped everyone in the banquet hall cheered and applauded the drunk general and strategist. One group of officers were chanting their strategist's name and banging on the tables, and another group were throwing roses at him! To be honest they were impressed by Zhou Yu's singing 'talent'. It was amazing what a man could do when he was drunk! Zhou Yu started to bow to his now very pleased audience but the alcohol was going to his head. As he bent over he felt his legs just go and he fell over and straight off the stage. Sun Ce just casually looked down at his sworn brother and smiled.

"Nice trip?" he asked jokingly. Zhou Yu simply raised his hand and made a thumbs up sign just as Xiao Qiao rushed over to help him.

"Zhou Yu?" she asked frantically hoping he wasn't too badly hurt. "Are you alright? Say something!"

"Oh I'm fine!" he said covering up the fact that he was now in slight pain. He had fallen flat on his face and it was starting to hurt! "Really, I'll be okay! I just need another drink…" He got up and stumbled over to the table. He grabbed a bottle of wine and poured himself yet another glass. Sun Jian and Huang Gai looked worryingly at each other- the Wu kingdom was doomed if Zhou Yu became an alcoholic! All their clever and well thought out strategies… gone! They just hoped (and prayed!) that Xiao's little plan would be a one off for the sake of Wu…

Da Qiao sat her husband down and tried to make him eat something in the hope that it would soak up some of the alcohol he had gulped down. Sun Ce was famed for being quite the party animal, but this time she was slightly relieved that he had sung a slow song rather than a faster one. The last time a fast one was played at a party he tried dancing and tripped over some curtains, and ended up with concussion after he crashed into the musicians and their instruments! Ce refused the food and instead started 'talking' to his brother…

"So Quannie!" Ce started. "How's my favourite lil bro? Still being his boring old self?"

Quan stared at his brother. He expected this- Ce normally started drunk conversations with anyone was sitting close enough. "Yes I'm fine Ce." Just basic answers- Quan didn't want to mess with Ce when he was drunk. Arguments could easily end up in duels…

"Good good! As long as you're fine that's all that matters!" Ce patted his brother quite hard on the back. "So… found a wife yet?"

Quan was about to answer that question with his usual 'no' response but a loud noise came from the courtyard.

"KABOOM!"

"What was that?" Xiao said as she huddled close to Zhou Yu who was now slouched over the table in a half-asleep state.

Sun Jian stood up and unsheathed his sword. "It could be an attack and we are not prepared. Just look at our strategist!" He pointed with his blade towards Yu (who was murmuring something in his sleep) and continued. "Zhou Tai, Lu Meng- go and investigate. I will join you shortly. Call us if you need reinforcements, but it's coming from the courtyard so you should be fine." Zhou Tai and Lu Meng got out of their seats, grabbed their weapons and made their exit, leaving everyone else to try and guess as to what the noise was…

* * *

"That was a big one!" 

Sun Shang Xiang's face lit up with delight as she watched the fireworks explode in the sky. The fact that the night sky was very dark made them even more impressive.

"I'm glad you like them!" Ning said as they sat on the grass with Taishi Ci watching as Lu Xun set the fireworks off. Being the Wu pyromaniac he was in charge of all things flammable. It was impossible to separate that boy from his matches!

"Are you sure you don't want a drink Shang?" Taishi Ci offered his flask of wine to her but she declined politely. Ci shrugged his shoulders and took a large gulp of the drink. Chilling out outside was definitely better than staying inside. Fireworks, stars in the night sky, friends… what could be better?

Shang Xiang smiled as more fireworks went up in the air and exploded in the night sky. She watched as a red tiger pounced and came towards her but vanished in a scatter of sparks, and a green dragon flew in between the stars. It was beautiful… She had thought that her night was getting off to a terrible start- she thanked the gods that Gan Ning had found her. She hadn't wanted to spend the whole night hiding in a cupboard crying. It wasn't like her to cry- she was strong and she always had been, but she had felt so awkward in the dress, with the comments just adding to that feeling. At least Ning had made her feel better. He always did- the ex-pirate was just full positive energy, always making everyone else feel happy. It was fun spending time with him and she hoped he felt the same. He never complained about hanging out with a girl…

"What is going on here?"

The four all turned around and saw Zhou Tai and Lu Meng approach from behind. They saw a firework go up and explode, so they turned their heads towards the troublesome ex-pirate.

"Can you explain all of this Ning?" Tai asked as he looked at the box.

"We're just having some fun!" Ning replied as he showed his fellow ex-pirate the flask of wine. He hadn't drunk much- he didn't want to set a bad example towards Shang Xiang. It wasn't as if that would've made a difference anyway- she had seen him totally out of his head many times before!

"Poor Sun Jian thinks that we're being invaded!" Meng continued. "You guys are supposed to be indoors with the party!"

"That was boring!" Ci raised his flask. "This is much more fun don't you agree Shang Xiang?"

"Yeah- it's a lot better than being made to feel stupid!" She pointed at the dress. "I hope they feel proud of what they did."

"I'm not sure- your brother's had too much wine as usual, and Zhou Yu is completely wasted."

Ci, Ning, and now Lu Xun who had stopped setting the fireworks alight, raised their eyebrows. Zhou Yu was drunk? Normally Yu only had one glass of the weaker wine just to try and fit in, but he wasn't a fan of it. How had he managed this?

"Xiao gave him wine with extra alcohol in it to make him get drunk. Apparently she wanted him to have fun." Zhou Tai put his sword back in it's sheath. "And it worked to perfection."

"Has he done anything stupid yet?" Shang Xiang asked.

"He sang a song with Sun Ce on stage and then fell off- I think he's recovering now. But I think after his little nap he'll be up and joining Sun Ce again!" Tai sighed. "Well, I suppose Meng and I had better go back and calm your father down. He thinks that Wei are invading…" Tai and Meng turned back to walk into the castle, but to their (and everyone else's) surprise, Zhou Yu ran out screaming something.

"Death to Wei!" he called out as he ran across the lawn brandishing his sword. They noticed that he wasn't wearing anything on top… luckily he was wearing trousers! Wu's reputation would be tarnished if news got out that their strategist was a streak!

Soon afterwards Xiao Qiao ran out carrying Zhou Yu's robe. She started to chase after him. "Please put it back on- you'll catch a cold!" she cried as she ran. Shang, Ning, Ci, Xun, Tai and Meng couldn't help but laugh at the comical scene. It was a pity that Zhou Yu wasn't like this everyday… thank goodness for alcohol!

* * *

Good chapter?I wouldn't know- I rely on reviews to tell me that! Reviews please! And stay happy! Also if the thief is reading this- don't think about stealing anymore of my work. Messing with me is the last thing you want to do right now... 


	9. Search for a Strategist

Disclaimer as before... I got tired of writing it... I'm applying my original disclaimer to all of my chapters!

The plagiarist has gone! The stolen fic has been taken down for good. (sighs loudly) Thank goondness! The whole thing was starting to wear me out and I'm relieved it's over. Everyone has been great in this, and I've thanked everyone in my profile. Now I can continue writing in peace without the fear of my work being stolen! Here is the next chapter, and I've just noticed that all of the previous 8 chapters' events took place in just one day. It was a very busy day I say:)

* * *

**  
Chapter 9- Search for a Strategist**

"Wake up everybody! Please, you have to help me!"

Huang Gai was the first to awake to the sound of squealing. The big man loved his sleep and was rather annoyed and confused as to why he'd awoken this early. Gai was a late riser as he trained incredibly hard in the day- by night he sometimes became so tired he needed to be helped upstairs! He hated admitting he was growing old. He still felt young, just as young as he was on the day he first met Sun Jian and helped support the growing Wu kingdom. He'd been there from the start- he'd seen Jian take control of his first region, rule the kingdom, and he'd even seen all of the Sun children grow up. He missed the good old days where he'd help look after them after Lady Wu passed away. They saw him as a second father figure and Gai had grown to love him as the children he'd never had. Back then they'd be the ones to wake him up, not a squealing Xiao Qiao…

"Lady Xiao Qiao!" Huang Gai popped his head from his bedroom. "What is going on?"

Xiao Qiao stopped running and dashed over to Gai. She looked distresses. "I think I did something wrong!"

"What did you do?"

"I didn't mean to do anything! This is why they won't let me fight in battles! I'm no good!" Xiao was now in a frantic state and on the verge of tears. Gai grabbed his robe from behind the door, put it on, and stepped out of the room.

"If you want me to help you'll have to tell me what's going on," he said as he rested a hand on Xiao's shoulder. "Now, will you tell me?"

Just then Zhou Tai appeared from his room next door. His hair was a mess and for once he wasn't wearing all of his protective armour. "What's all the noise?" he said, sounding very much half asleep. He too wasn't used to the loud awakenings. Xiao's shrill voice was worse than Sun Jian's 'wake up gong'…

"I'm in so much trouble!" Xiao wailed as she jumped up and down in a panic, knocking Gai's hand from her shoulder. "IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"

"What the…?" A sleepy Lu Xun stepped out of his room, his dark brown hair standing on end from a disturbed sleep. "May I ask what is going on?"

Zhou Tai shrugged his shoulders and continued watching as Xiao Qiao stopped jumping and started to cry all over Huang Gai. They could hear her weeping and sobbing. After a minute, the heads of Gan Ning, Taishi Ci and Lu Meng appeared and they too walked over to Xiao to see what was wrong.

"Hey Little Qiao!" Ning said cheerily. "What's up?"

Meng nudged Ning's arm warning him to stay back. He had experience of whenever Xiao was upset- he knew it was best to stay back to prevent her from becoming too upset. That girl could stay hysterical for days on end… "Xiao Qiao," he started, "why don't you tell us what the matter is, then maybe we can help you?"

Xiao looked up at all of the men surrounding her. She sniffed and wiped away some tears using her robe sleeve. "I…I…I…" she hesitated. She then cried a bit more.

"We're waiting…" Ci said in a sing song tone. Meng nudged him too.

Xiao faced Taishi Ci. She took a deep breath, and cried out "I LOST ZHOU YU!"

* * *

On the other side of the castle, where the Sun family slept (plus Da with her being Sun Ce's wife), Sun Ce woke up with a pounding headache.

"Oh my head!" he moaned loudly. So loudly he managed to wake up Da who was sleeping peacefully beside him. While she stirred he got to his feet and stumbled over to the wardrobe to get some clothes to wear. His head was spinning so fast he had to take a seat next to it to choose his outfit.

"Feeling your age?" Da asked cheekily from the bed. All she got was a groan as his reply. "I take it you had too much to drink last night?"

Ce nodded. "I can't remember much about last night… did I make an idiot of myself?"

"Oh yeah! You always do…" Da giggled and sat up. "You sang with Zhou Yu…"

"Zhou Yu sang with me? Why, was he drunk too?"

"He drank more than you did, and I'm guessing that now he's fast asleep in his bed with Xiao fussing over him!"

"I need a fuss…" Ce pouted.

Da threw a cushion from the end of the bed at him. "You don't need to be fussed over! If anything you should be the one fussing over me! Besides, I don't have the time to fuss over my lazy husband."

A laugh came from Sun Ce. "You don't have time? Excuse me, but what is it you do all day exactly? You don't go out and train, have strategy meetings, go to battle… you're lazier than me!"

Da would've slapped Ce if it hadn't been for the fact that he was sitting so far away. "You avoid training at all costs, you sleep in strategy meetings, and you don't do much in battle except argue with your brother about who deserves the throne if your father was to die there and then! So excuse me Mr Lazy but I do valuable things in my time. You think those dances came from sitting on my ass?" She looked at Ce's face waiting for a reply. He couldn't really reply to what she was saying was all true. He wasn't a fan of hard work it had to be said. He believed he was strong enough already and that he didn't need to constantly prove his worth (unlike his sister who felt it was necessary!).

"Grrr…" he groaned, and then rubbed his head trying to minimise the pain he was feeling. He'd never felt so hung over in his life! He dared to imagine what Zhou Yu was feeling…

* * *

Sun Shang Xiang sat at her dressing table staring into the mirror ahead. In her hand was a maroon flower clip that had previously belonged to her mother, and she felt the individual silk petals in her hand. It was a pretty flower she had agreed, part of her disagreeing and telling her that she was a tomboy and shouldn't be thinking those things. She had even thought of the flower as beautiful…

What Gan Ning had said to her the previous night was playing on her mind. Did he really think she was beautiful? She blushed as she remembered, and covered her face with her hands as she saw her redness in her reflection. She'd never received compliments like that before- it was normally Da or Xiao who got those. But her, Wu's tomboy warrior princess? Sure, it was only Gan Ning who had said it. He could have just been cheering her up and making her feel better about herself. She doubted that it was much more than that. After all, who could fall in love with someone as wild and rebellious as her?

Shang Xiang unfastened the clip and fixed it onto the right side of her short chin length hair. She moved her hands away and looked at herself. It did look a bit odd at first, and especially as she was wearing some of her training clothes, but it did look kind of… nice. She moved her head to the side and admired it from different angles. Shang did consider briefly wearing it outside of her room but she knew everyone would notice. They had noticed the dress yesterday and it had made her uncomfortable, and she didn't think that Ce wanted the memories of Da's hair clip brought up again! She removed the clip from her hair and placed it back in the draw which was also home to some jewelled daggers that had also been passed down from the late Lady Wu. She sighed at her reflection before standing up and heading off to breakfast. Did anyone really consider her beautiful?

* * *

"ZHOU YU?" Xiao called in the dining hall. She ran around frantically calling her dear husband's name, but she got no response. She looked underneath the dining table, behind the screens, behind the doors, and even in the kitchens. Xiao had managed to get some of the maids in on the hunt, but no success. Xiao feared the worst. A drunk man could do many things that he wouldn't normally do, and unfortunately for her Zhou Yu didn't do a lot when he was sober- he could do loads with some alcohol! She feared he had drowned in the river, jumped from the top of the castle…what she feared most was that he'd run away with another woman! She hated to think that she wasn't good enough for him…

Suddenly Gan Ning, Lu Meng and Lu Xun burst into the dining hall.

"Well?" Xiao asked in a frenzy. "Did you find him? Please tell me you found him!"

The three men exchanged solemn glances. They were confused too- it wasn't like Zhou Yu to just disappear from the castle. He normally stayed put in the safety of the strategy room. They had checked every room that they could get into and still no sign.

Xiao sobbed. "I bet he's run away because he found out that I spiked his drink!"

"Hey, don't worry Xiao!" Xun walked up to her and gave her a sympathy hug. "We'll find him for you- we won't let Wu's best strategist leave us to sort out Wei on our own!"

"Yeah!" Ning agreed. "Without him we're doomed!"

"So much for being positive, " muttered Meng as he leant against a door frame. "He will be around here somewhere Xiao, you'll see," he spoke up. "He won't have got too far…"

* * *

Sun Jian, Huang Gai and a very miserable Sun Ce were sat in the strategy room waiting for their strategist to discuss plans with them for the day. It had been suggested at the party that Wu concentrate more on strengthening the naval fleet. Zhou Yu had been talking about naval battles a lot recently, and it was always better to be safe than sorry. But Zhou Yu hadn't turned up. Usually he was the first one to arrive so he could prepare his presentations and make sure that the right people would be attending. His meetings always went to plan, and any glitches that did arise were normally due to Sun Ce who would always find an opportunity to interrupt his sworn brother.

"Ce," Sun Jian said as he stood up. "Are you sure you don't know where Zhou Yu is?"

"I swear I have no idea Pops!" said the Little Conqueror as he buried his head in his hands. "I don't remember anything about last night!" He sighed. "I don't even know what I did after I sang and made a complete ass of myself!"

Jian walked over to the room window and looked outside. Both Qiao sisters were searching the courtyard using their fans to separate the bushes apart and see if he was hiding in them. Lu Meng and Gan Ning were on their horses searching the rest of the grounds. The two generals looked up to the window were Jian stood, saw him, and shook their heads meaning that they hadn't seen Yu. Jian sighed and breathed out. It just wasn't like Zhou Yu…

* * *

Unaware of what was going on, a man in the stables yawned and stretched. He quickly stopped when he realised that his vision was slightly blurry and his head felt like it was being repeatedly hit with a mallet. He pushed himself back on what he had slept on- it was itchy. Very itchy. He looked down and realised that instead of his comfortable bed he had slept in a pile of hay and straw. Confused, he took a look around at the rest of his surroundings. It was dark with a little bit of light filtering through the door, everywhere was covered in hay and straw, but the most noticeable thing was he smell- it was awful! He immediately recognised it as horse manure so he wrinkled up his nose and closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt something licking his face. _Hmmm_ he thought, _Xiao doesn't lick me in the mornings…_ With that Zhou Yu opened up his eyes and came face to face with his horse. His eyes widened and he slowly backed away, vowing that he'd never drink alcohol again!

* * *

A/N- Hehe I liked the ending! I really enjoyed writing that bit- I hope you enjoyed reading it! Now I'll work on the next chapter for all of you lovely people:)

CrazyInsanity- I'm glad you love the fic! And thank you for helping me fight the plagiarist! Your reviews were so funny! (falls off chair laughing) If only I could go back and read them again! And in response to your question, for the song I didn't use a transator.I found a site which had the lyrics on because in the game the song is actually sung in Chinese. Good isn't it?

firesaddle- I know who you are now:) Hi there! I haven't let the thief stop me... she's gone! I finally got her sorted out... and this fic isn't going to end yet! The last chapter wasn't the last chapter, and neither is this one. Actually, I don't know when I'm going to finish this. It's ongoing until further notice... yay!

stackles- As before, that chapter wasn't the last! I still have more fanfic goodness to churn out!

Odin- I know there were some grammatical errors in there. My grammar isn't terrible- I have the worst spellchecker in the world! I have a beta reader but she does have a life too and I didn't want her to feel weighed down with work. She's done my first and second chapter so far... if you sopt any big mistakes which you feel I really need to get sorted, PM me on the Way of Musou board- that's where I am the most (username SunShangXiang).


	10. Apologies and Arguments

Disclaimer- As before... always as before...

A/N- I return! It's been over a week since I updated... whoops! I know this chapter isn't incredibly long but I didn't want to put too much into it. Gotta save some for the next chapter:) I'm glad everyone liked the last chapter! I loved all of your reviews- thank you! Now here's Chapter 10 for you... enjoy!

* * *

**  
Chapter 10- Apologies and Arguments**

"Don't say ANYTHING Sun Ce."

"But-"

"Not. One. Single. Word."

Zhou Yu silently drank his morning tea wile avoiding eye contact with everyone else at the table. He was embarrassed enough- he had been found and 'rescued', half naked, by Gan Ning and Lu Meng, who had laughed their asses off for a full two minutes before offering to help him out! They had to pinch themselves just to make sure that it was definitely the Wu strategist who was being cornered by his horse, and for once it was Ning telling Zhou Yu about the dangers of drinking too much alcohol. Fortunately Yu couldn't remember all of the things he had done the previous night, but Meng had told him it wasn't pretty…

"Zhou Yu?"

Yu turned his head to his wife who was smiling sweetly at him. He now knew not to trust that sweet smile as he had been told about her little 'plan' and how it had worked. He had made a complete fool out of himself in front of the whole of Wu- his reputation as a strategist was now tarnished and ruined, and it was all Xiao's doing…

"Yes my wife?" he replied monotonously.

"I'm really sorry about yesterday!" she said innocently. "I didn't mean for it to go so badly! All I wanted was for you to have fun, and you did!"

Zhou Yu put his cup on the table. "Did I? Did I really?" He chuckled quite sarcastically. "Do you think making a complete idiot of me is fun? I can't even REMEMBER if I had fun! I probably drank more than, I don't know, Gan Ning, and he drinks a lot!" He quickly glanced at the ex-pirate. "No offence Ning."

"None taken Party Boy!" was Ning's hearty response.

"I try and maintain my good reputation and now how do you think I look?" he continued. "How do you think this reflects on Wu?"

"I'm sorry…" Xiao whimpered. "I didn't mean it…"

"No you didn't, and I guess you didn't even consider the consequences. It's not right to make others drink, especially when they don't normally drink and it's in public."

"ZHOU YU!"

Yu turned to face his sister-in-law. "Yes Da?"

"Stop it! You're making Xiao cry! She said she's sorry- just accept her apology!"

Zhou Yu sighed. "Alright then… Xiao, I accept your apology. Let's never speak of this again- I'd rather forget it." He looked at all of the others. "That goes for all of you."

Silence followed as all of the generals looked at each other, their awkward smiles suppressing the laughter they were trying to keep in. Xiao was hugging her husband tight- it was her way of saying sorry. She also did 'apology dinners' and 'dances of forgiveness' and she was already planning on doing those for Yu! She was just so happy that she had been forgiven. After a minute of quiet eating Taishi Ci broke the silence. "Overall it was a good party wasn't it?"

"Oh yes, I definitely agree!" said Sun Jian from the head of the table. "I think everyone enjoyed themselves, even if they were hiding…" He looked at Sun Shang Xiang who noticed he was talking about her and blushed a light shade of red. "At least you came out in the end, that's what matters."

"Gan Ning had to drag her out though!" Lu Xun added. "I think he tempted her with the fireworks! Everyone loves fireworks…"

Lu Meng 'coughed'. "Correction, Xun! Everyone likes fireworks; YOU love them. Just like Huang Gai loves bombs, Ning loves boats, and Zhou Yu loves…"

"Alcohol!" called out Ning.

"Parties and singing!" shouted out Ce.

"Me!" was the response from a cheery Xiao.

"But it was hardly my fault that I was hiding," said Shang Xiang. "I wouldn't have hid away if it weren't for some people's comments…"

Sun Ce grinned. "About those… I'm sorry about yesterday sis!"

"I'm sure you are…"

Shang Xiang merely glanced at her elder brother. Why wasn't Quan this much of a jerk? Sun Ce's apologies were always meaningless so what was different this time? If he really was serious he'd be down on his knees begging for forgiveness! Besides, she still had her head in the clouds from yesterday night- she wasn't too bothered about whether or not Ce was apologising. Someone thought she was pretty…

Ce waved his hands in front of her face. "Hello? Anyone in there?"

"Huh?" Shang blinked and hit his hands out of the way. "What…?"

"Ha!" Ce laughed. "Little sis is a bit dense today!"

"I am NOT dense!"

"So why are you acting all unresponsive? Daydreaming?" He chuckled to himself. "Or is there nothing up there anymore?" He tapped his head and then burst out laughing. "Maybe that dress affected your head!"

"Or maybe your new found taste in feminine hair accessories is rubbing off onto me!" She laughed. "You're more girly than I am!"

Sun Ce scoffed. "Oh really? So how come I'm married?"

"Simple! Da likes men who are in touch with their girly side!"

"It's no wonder you have no suitors sis! You're practically a man yourself- you scare them away!" While Ce was chuckling to himself something warm hit his left cheek hard. He looked up and realised that his sister had indeed thrown a meat bun at his face.

"You little…!" Ce retaliated by picking up a meat bun from the centre of the table and throwing it at Shang Xiang, narrowly missing Sun Quan. He launched another one at her, this time hitting her left shoulder.

"You're going down brother!" Shang Xiang stood up from her seat and ran over to Sun Ce. She pulled his chair out from under the table, forcing him to his feet. Once he was up she started repeatedly kicking his shins, but she had greatly misjudged the thickness of his boots so he just stood there, pretend yawning.

"Is that all you can do?" he taunted. "How pathetic!"

Not one to back down from a challenge, Shang Xiang picked up her father's cup of tea and threw it over Ce's head. It dripped down from his hair to his face, and it ended up dripping from his goatee beard. It then started to get onto his clothes… he wasn't pleased…

"You IDIOT!" he shouted out before grabbing her. He tipped her upside down from her legs so that her hair hung down touching the surface of the floor. "Apologise!"

"Never!" she cried out defiantly, struggling at the same time.

"Fine then! Don't expect me to let go so soon!"

As they argued, everyone watched in surprise. In all the times that those two argued Ce had never resorted to dangling Shang Xiang by the legs! Sun Jian covered his head with his hands and sighed, He knew his family wasn't normal, and now that Shang Xiang was feistier than ever more 'arguments' occurred and the general level of madness increased. It was time for action.

"RIGHT! THAT'S IT!"

Everyone, including the fighting Sun siblings, froze as Sun Jian's voice boomed through the castle from the dining hall He rarely raised his voice but it was obvious he was at the end of his tether.

"YOU TWO, JUST STOP IT!" he continued. "Ce- let your sister go."

"But she-"

"I SAID LET HER GO!"

Ce obediently put his sister the right way round, but as the blood had gone to her head she nearly fell over backwards. She held onto a nearby chair for balance and support.

Jian stood up from his seat. "Can you two not behave? Can you not go just one day without upsetting each other?"

"He starts it though!" Shang complained. "I merely defend myself!"

"It takes two to start an argument!" Ce replied.

"But it only takes one to finish it," Quan added, feeling slightly left out from the family debate. As the 'quiet one' he loved watching them all argue. It was funny in a way…

"She should finish it by apologising!" Ce said. "She should learn to respect her elders."

"You're not a very good elder might I say!"

"No wonder you're not married…"

"STOP IT!" Jian raised his voice again and they immediately stopped. "You two leave me no choice!" he pulled out from his belt his trusted silver blade. All eyes widened- he wouldn't… would he?

"Dad!" Quan pleaded. "Don't do it! I need my siblings! Please!"

Jian raised his eyebrows at his second son. "Don't do what, son?"

"Kill them! Please don't! If you kill them you have to kill me too!"

"Quan? I'm not killing them."

Sun Quan breathed a huge sigh of relief as did Da Qiao. She didn't want a dead husband OR a dead sister-in-law!

"So what are you doing to them?"

"Them? This involves you too Quan…"

"Huh?"

The Tiger grinned and pointed his sword in the direction of the way out. "Sun Ce, Sun Quan and Sun Shang Xiang- it is time."

All three Sun children exchanged puzzled glances. "Time for what?" they replied in unison.

"Something we should have done a long time ago."

"And that is…?" asked Ce, still very much confused.

"A little therapy," Jian said, and then laughed to himself. "Say hello to family counselling!"

* * *

A/N- Another chapter finished! I'll start writing the next one now, and I promise it'll be done in less than a week and a bit. Shame on me! I like to keep the fans happy! I hope you enjoyed this one even if it was a bit short... review anyway please:) 


	11. Opening Up

Disclaimer: As before...

A/N- Argh I've been so busy! I try not to neglect my fics... so I've made this chapter a bit longer than usual! I know it's not as humourous as the others but the next one will be:) I've never been in any kind of therapy before so I'm just guessing as to what happens!

* * *

**Chapter 11- Opening Up**

"Do you really think that we should be the ones to do this?"

"Sun Jian asked us to Ning. Besides, how hard could it be?"

Gan Ning walked beside Lu Meng as they made their way to one of the meeting rooms to commence the therapy session. Sun Jian had decided that, out of all of the professionals, Ning and Meng should do it. Jian didn't care that they hadn't done anything like this before. This was an emergency mission and something needed to be resolved as soon as possible. Like a battle, it was one that Sun Jian intended on winning…

"Are they in this room?" Ning moved his head towards a thick wooden door and put his ear to it. He couldn't hear anything… yet. He put his hand on the handle and turned it. He and Meng entered, and were surprised to see Sun Shang Xiang hiding behind Sun Jian while Sun Ce was trying to get her. Sun Quan was looking towards the two generals who had just entered, grateful for the new presence of sanity that was so sorely needed.

"About time!" Quan said as he stood to his feet. "Those two are about to kill each other!" He pointed towards his two siblings.

"I'm not going to kill her," Ce said with a strange tone in his voice. "I just want to teach her a lesson…"

"Help me!" whimpered Shang Xiang as she clung on to her father. Sun Jian wasn't doing anything except for hoping that Ning and Meng could do something to sort out his crazy kids.

After Lu Meng entered the room he closed the door behind him, sighed, and walked over to the table where Ning was already standing. In his hand he held a scroll. "Right," he said loudly. "Everyone- sit down. No arguing, no bickering, no fighting- just SIT."

Sun Jian and Sun Quan sat down on one end of the table, leaving Ce and Shang Xiang glaring at each other. They slowly moved apart from each other and sat opposite each other. They continued giving each other evil stares, resisting the urge to lunge at each other and rip their hair out. Tension was high between them- it was sibling rivalry at it's worst…

"Okay then!" Meng said loudly from the head of the table. He took a seat next to Gan Ning and proceeded unrolling the scroll. "While you guys have been cooling down Ning and I have been thinking of some ideas to get around your problems."

"Hopefully this will help you guys as a family unit and as individuals," added the ex-pirate. "If Wu is to be strong the head family needs to be strong."

"Ning is right," continued Lu Meng. "It's all about strength and working together as a team. So before we get into the serious stuff we're going to spend some time talking…"

"Oh man!" moaned Ce. "There's nothing _to _talk about! Unless we talk about how much of a brat a certain little sister is…"

"You can talk!" Shang Xiang replied. "I feel sorry for Dad- he has to leave Wu to a jerk!"

"SILENCE!" Jian shouted. He then turned to the two 'counsellors'. "Please continue."

Gan Ning and Lu Meng glanced at each other. This was going to be harder than they thought…

* * *

While the counselling session was getting underway Lu Xun and Taishi Ci were sat in the library. They were at the large table and in front of them was a large jug of a water and two cups. Taishi Ci was nursing a massive hangover and he was moaning as his head was started to throb, causing him great pain. Xun was just sitting opposite shaking his head in disapproval at him.

"You see Taishi Ci, that is the reason I don't drink."

"So you've said…" Ci gulped down some water and then rested his head on his arms on the table. "Why won't my headache go away?" he moaned.

Lu Xun snickered. "It's obvious- you drank too much last night."

"I know that! But Ning drank too- why didn't he have as much as I did? Normally that man drinks for China…"

"He probably didn't drink as much as you. I think something was on his mind…"

"Do you know what?" Ci lifted his head up and looked at his sober friend.

"No, but nothing usually affects Ning's drinking. We'll find out though."

"Good," said Taishi Ci, pouring himself another glass of water. "Because I'm not losing my drinking partner!"

* * *

Lu Meng stood in the centre of the room by a chair. Around him, in a semi circle of chairs, sat the Sun family as well as Gan Ning. The Suns were confused as to why there was one lone chair just sat in the middle. What was it for?

"Alright guys!" Meng said loudly. "This exercise is just for everyone to open up to each other. That's why we have this chair. You guys are going to take it in turns to sit in the chair and talk about your position in the family. And if you have problems with anyone now's the time to tell them because there's no locking things away here."

Sun Ce raised his hand so Meng nodded, allowing the Little Conqueror to speak. "What if the things we say hurt each other? And you and Ning- can we trust you two?"

"Of course!" replied Lu Meng. "What goes on in this room stays in this room." He put a hand on the chair. "Now who's first?" He watched as the four Suns sat in silence. "Well?" He still got no response. It's a good thing I came prepared for this he thought to himself as he pulled out of his pocket a few pieces of paper. He put them on the chair seat, inked side face down, and chose one of the four at random. "Sun Quan, you're first."

"Oh man…" Sun Quan stood up from his seat and walked over to the chair after Lu Meng had picked up the bits of paper. Quan sat down and looked at the rest of the family. "What do I say?"

"Just talk about any problems you have with any of them, how you feel about the current family situation… whatever you want."

Sun Quan hesitated for a minute before deciding to speak. "Alright then… I'm the middle child so I feel as if I'm in the middle of Ce and Shang Xiang's petty arguments. I know I'm not considered as strong as the other generals but I know there's so much more I can do like strategy and defence. I see myself as the opposite of Ce so I'm not jealous that he's the oldest and one of Wu's leading generals and I'm not jealous that Shang gets more of Dad's attention… I'm happy the way I am." Quan turned his head to Lu Meng. "That's it I guess."

"That was easy enough!" Meng held out 3 pieces of paper to Quan. "You can choose who goes next."

Quan closed his eyes and picked a piece of paper at random. When he had chosen he opened his eyes and read out the name that was on the paper. "Sun Ce."

Ce rolled his eyes and went to the chair as Quan walked back to his original seat. He slumped in the 'confession' chair and sighed. "Can I start?" Meng nodded. "Okay. Well, the arguments aren't 'petty'- I don't exactly start them all. It's just that me and Shang are very similar so we either get along very well or sometimes we just don't. I don't hate her- she's my little sister, of course I don't. It's not like it's serious anyway- I'm just trying to set an example to my younger brother and sister and prove to everyone else that I'm a good general. I may not be as bright as everyone else but I'm still capable of achieving great things. I have a wife and I think I'm growing up. All I want to do is follow in Pops' footsteps and hopefully take over when the time comes and carry on what he started." Ce stood up and walked back to his seat. "And that's my little speech!" He said as he sat back down next to Sun Jian.

Now there were only two Suns remaining- the eldest and the youngest. Sun Jian looked at his daughter who didn't look too enthusiastic about going up to the chair. Jian wanted to go after he had heard what all of his children had to say. He leant over Sun Quan and said to her "Are you going first Shang Xiang?"

Shang Xiang looked at him and nodded. Slowly she walked up to seat and sat in it, with Lu Meng standing right beside her. It did make her feel slightly awkward, being watched by all of them, but it was counselling after all. She had to make the effort…

"I feel… I feel like I'm in a bad position. I'm the youngest and the only female in the Sun family, and it's something I'm constantly reminded of. I know I'm not going to be as strong as my brothers but that doesn't mean I don't try. I hate being in the shadow of them. I know Sun Quan treats me as an equal- in sparring he doesn't purposely go soft on me. But Sun Ce… he doesn't like to admit that his sister is a strong-willed individual. He just wants to see me be married off to someone far away so I can get out of his way." A tear rolled down her cheek. "And you guys are always overprotective of me in battle. It's like you don't trust me or think I'm capable…"

She trailed off and wiped the tear away. Meng handed her a handkerchief which she accepted, thanked him, and went back to her seat next to Sun Quan and Gan Ning. She looked down at the floor to prevent the others from seeing how upset she was, but Quan and Ning had already seen her tears. Quan put his arm around his sister and gave her a small hug. Ce looked past his father and saw that Shang was upset. He honestly had no idea that she felt that way. He always imagined that he was a happy girl, not someone who felt so low, and that he was one of those reasons. Ce stood up and walked to his sister. He got on his knees and looked at her.

"I'm sorry Shang Xiang- I didn't know that I made you feel like that."

"Well you do now," she said quietly, still being hugged by Quan. "Why can't you just be the caring big brother instead of a jerk?"

"I do try…please forgive me Shang? I promise things will change. I just need you to give me another chance. Please?" He waited for Shang's response. After a few seconds Shang wrapped her arms around him and gave him a huge hug.

"All you have to do is be nicer and treat me as an equal," she said mid-hug. "That's all I ask."

Ce quickly nodded- he'd do anything as long as it meant not seeing her cry. Anything but that… seeing Shang Xiang cry was the ultimate punishment.

"So am I forgiven?" he asked just to make sure.

"Yes!" She hugged him again, and everyone in the room clapped. Sun Jian was so proud of his children for acting so adult. Well, they were adults after all so it's what he expected them to do. As they clapped the two siblings hugged and made peace with each other.

After the family moment Sun Ce asked "Does this mean that counselling is over?"

Lu Meng looked to Sun Jian and then to Gan Ning. "Well, we do still have a couple of activities lined up that might help…"

"But we've all made up now! I feel better, and so does Shang Xiang, and there doesn't seem to be a thing wrong with Quan…"

"But we've only just started! Counselling takes a long time…what do you think Sun Jian?"

"I think that we may be done for now. Of course if another problem occurs I'll be sure that we proceed with the full course of treatment." He looked at the three smiling Sun siblings. "Hopefully that shouldn't be for a while yet…"

Gan Ning stood up and went over to Lu Meng who just looked confused. "So what do you think?"

"That it was too quick. There'll be problems in the future but let's just hope that they'll be strong enough. They seem strong enough- let's just hope it stays that way."

Ning nodded in agreement as the Sun family became the happy and strong family unit that they always had been. Sun Ce was now giving Sun Shang Xiang a bear hug while Sun Jian and Sun Quan were talking about something that must have been funny because they were both laughing. Ning sighed- he hadn't liked watching Shang cry at all. Part of him wanted to give her a hug and comfort her but he had been relieved that Ce had done the right thing and apologised. One part of him however wanted to punch Sun Ce for being such a jerk towards one of his best friends… if he had been drinking he most certainly would have. No one was going to hurt her again… Gan Ning wanted to make sure of that…


	12. Noises in the Night

A/N- I can be really lazy sometimes but I've updated! It hasn't been too long has it? I tried to include some humour in this chapter as the last one was a bit more serious than my usual stuff. I hope this is a good enough chapter! I've been doing a bit at a time over the week as I've been quite busy... la la la work and school work combined makes TotallyNuts become InsanelyNuts:P Phweeeeeeeee...

* * *

**Chapter 12- Noises in the Night**

Using a bladed letter opener the general sliced open the envelope and carefully took out the folded piece of parchment paper that was tucked inside. He placed the opener back onto his desk, unfolded the letter, and began to read the words in the candlelight…

_Dear Son,_

_I hope that you are well upon receiving this letter. I'm not checking up on you like a child- just making sure that my only son is alright. You father sends his wishes too. Recently he has been much busier with the farm as it's been a busy season, and he thanks you greatly for the money that you sent to help repair the barn. The animals seem much happier now that they don't have a cold draft blowing in. I'm sure they'd say thank you too but I'd have quite a job trying to make them say that! On a more serious note, I need to know if you are truly happy right now. You didn't look like your usual self during your last visit and it has been troubling both me and your father. We suspect that it's just all of the work that you do causing you extra stress, but we also think that it may because you feel a bit lonely. Have you not found a partner yet? I know you've always put your work ahead of everything else so you may not have the time to think about such things… I hope you consider your options and think about your future as well as your present. Oh, and send my wishes to your pirate friend!_

_Lots of love, Mother_

Lu Meng sighed as he finished reading the letter. So his parents thought that he was lonely… he knew that they were right though. He hadn't found that special someone in his life yet and didn't have any immediate planes to do so. Meng's focus had always been on doing the best he could for the Wu kingdom- why should he be considering finding a wife? He was perfectly happy with his close group of friends. He enjoyed hanging out with Gan Ning and Lu Xun- he treated them like a family and when he was around them he didn't feel as if he needed a woman. Lu Meng enjoyed the bachelor life, but life on the married side did look quite rewarding from what he'd seen. Sun Ce always told the bachelors how great it was to have someone who you could go to at the end of the day no matter what and loved you for who you were. Plus there was the opportunity of starting a family. It would be nice to have someone who could carry on the Lu family name he pondered as he folded the letter and placed it back in the envelope.

He reached over into a draw of his desk and pulled out a piece of fresh and clean parchment, and placed it flat on the surface in front of him. He dipped a new calligraphy brush into a pot of ink. He lifted the brush above the paper and started to write his first line…

BONG!

Lu Meng jumped as the large castle gong echoed loudly throughout the halls. He could actually feel the sound and the sheer loudness made him drop his brush onto the paper, leaving a funny mark. Then it hit him. The only time that the gong was set off in the middle of the night was if a battle was started at that precise moment in town. There was a procedure in place for times like these, and that was to immediately enter battle with your weapon and to defend the castle. Realising that the safety of the castle was at risk Lu Meng stood up and grabbed his halberd from the wall. He was wearing his robe and some loose fitting trousers ready to get to sleep, so he just put on his boots and headed straight for his bedroom door.

He stepped out into the hallway and as he did he saw several of the other officers stepping out of their rooms, armed with their weapons. They all looked sleepy, all of them still in their nightclothes. Lu Meng followed them as they all ran towards the gong, the designated meeting point for emergencies. There they would be able to find out what had happened, and why their night had been interrupted.

The generals couldn't see a thing as they passed the larger castle windows. Outside all they could see was the darkness of the night and the stars twinkling in the sky. It would've been an otherwise peaceful night if they hadn't been interrupted by the gong. On the way they met the Sun family who had just emerged from their rooms. It was an odd sight to see Sun Jian at this time of night, especially as the old man was in his pyjamas and looked half asleep, different from the energetic leader of Wu they were all used to!

"What's going on my Lord?" Zhou Tai asked, holding his katana firmly in his hands. He took his place next to the sleepy Sun Quan, who looked about ready to fall asleep as he stood next to his sister.

"I honestly don't know," Jian replied. "I couldn't see anything outside, and I've just sent one of the guards to go and investigate the disturbance. Does anyone know who set the gong off?"

They all shrugged their shoulders and looked at each other. The gong was around the corner and down another corridor, so going down there would be the only way to find out. Holding their weapons tightly the Wu generals turned the corner and walked further towards where the gong was. Had someone sneaked into the castle with the intention of waking everyone up? Or was there really an emergency going on that no one could see just yet?

"I can't see anything," said Sun Shang Xiang as she stayed close to her father. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Whatever it is it's a horrible joke!" Sun Ce growled. "I was trying to get some sleep…"

"Somehow I think _everyone_ was trying to get some sleep," Gan Ning replied as he yawned to himself.

The generals turned the corner they approached and saw, in front of the gong, what looked like a sleeping person lying down. They were in a curled up position and sleeping quietly. How could they have been asleep when the gong had just been hit, unless it was them who had hit it…?

Huang Gai approached the body and looked over to see the face. He looked quite surprised when he saw who it was. He signalled for the other generals to come over, and they too looked at who it was. They all looked at the sleeping Taishi Ci, who still had the gong stick in his hand, and he was sleeping like a baby.

"He hit it? I'm going to kill him!"

"Calm down Sun Ce!" said Sun Jian. "I'm sure there is a logical explanation for this!"

"Like? He was tired and he wanted to wake everyone else up?" Sun Ce looked as if he was going to go mad. "Why don't I just wake him up with my foot?" He imitated a kicking action with his foot, just as Taishi Ci stirred from his slumber. Or that was what it seemed he was doing…

The so-called sleeping Taishi Ci unfurled himself and stood to his feet. His eyes were still closed firmly shut and it seemed that he knew what he was doing. His arms raised and he stretched them out in front of him like a zombie. Then he walked straight ahead and back towards the direction of his room, unaware that all of the generals were standing near him. He just walked, and they had to move out of the way to avoid being hit by him.

"Taishi Ci _sleepwalks_?" asked Zhou Yu, rather confused. Not once had anyone in the castle slept walk, so it was intriguing to watch.

"I think I'd better go and lead him back to his room before he does anything else!" Lu Xun said as he ran over to Ci, who was now on course to walk straight into a candlestick. The generals sighed as the sleeping general was saved and was now being led by Xun back to his bed.

"Maybe we should lock his door from the outside next time," Meng suggested. "He could do it again, and I think we all need our sleep somehow."

"We'll see how he gets along over the next few days, but maybe this was a one off occasion," said Zhou Yu. "I think we should all go back to our rooms now. I'm sure the Qiaos are eager to know what happened."

Sun Shang Xiang gave a little laugh. "Were they too afraid to come out of their rooms? Lazy women…"

"Not all women are like you Shang Xiang," Yu replied, looking at the Wu princess as she stood there in her robe and nightdress, clutching a chakrams in each hand. "Some of them think more about themselves rather than go out and risk their lives…"

"So you're saying that Xiao only thinks about herself?"

"Not exactly… forget it. I'm tired and I'm sure you are. Goodnight everyone." Zhou Yu bowed to the others and made his way back to his room, with Sun Ce quickly following his sworn brother.

Sun Jian looked at all of the others. "Well, I don't know about everyone else but I'm most certainly going back to sleep. I believe I'll be saying goodnight too." With that Jian headed back to his room, yawning on the way.

After yawning herself, Sun Shang Xiang decided against going back to her room. She found it difficult to go straight back to sleep after being woken up in such a loud way, so she left the generals and walked the long dark path to the kitchens. Hopefully I can get a drink to settle down with she thought as she turned a corner to the dining room. She opened the large double doors and closed them behind her, the faint light from the kitchen guiding her. It smelt as if something was cooking, so she thought that the cook must still be up preparing breakfast. What looked like steam was dispersing from the main door to the kitchen, so she put her hands on the handle and opened it wide.

The heat was immense as she came face to face with the thick black smoke, and through the darkness she could see the flames. The whole kitchen was aflame and Shang Xiang panicked. Had Taishi Ci done this? Maybe that was his warning. Even though he was asleep could he have sensed the danger and tried to warn everyone? Her immediate reaction was to go and tell everybody, but she could hear something. A quiet voice…

"Help… me…"

Shang Xiang covered her mouth and ran into the room, trying to locate the source of the noise. She frantically looked for a place without fire, and to her surprise she saw the cook cowered underneath a table. She ran over to him and tried to help him up. It was apparent that he was hurt, and he moaned when she touched his leg. Shang knew that she couldn't just leave him here to die, so using what strength she had she dragged him from underneath the table and moved slowly towards the door.

The smoke was too overpowering and she could feel herself growing weaker with each breath she took. As she coughed to get the smoke out even more came in- it was a vicious cycle and she thought that neither she nor the cook were going to make it. Tears fell from her stinging eyes as she made it closer and closer to the door. They got closer and closer, but as they neared it Shang felt her legs fall from underneath her and she collapsed to the ground. She looked up at the ceiling, the smoke engulfing her and the cook. Her rescue had failed, and as she drifted into unconsciousness she felt an immense sense of guilt. Her life flashed before her eyes- there was so much she had wanted to do, see and achieve, and now all of these chances were dashed thanks to Taishi Ci. She closed her eyelids slowly, just as she heard the last sound of hope. The bells…


	13. The Waking and the Scheming

A/N- Work and revision sucks... fanfiction rocks! I made a start on this earlier than I expected so that's why it's here so early. I was mainly inspired by the lovely reviews! It's my motivation to write... and Jakusa, you are not a loser! I do that sometimes... hehe... Anyways, here it is! Ooh I love cliffhangers...

* * *

**Chapter 13- The Waking and the Scheming  
**  
"Look! She's waking up!"

Sun Shang Xiang slowly opened her eyes and looked up from where she lay. The room was dimmed and she immediately noticed that she wasn't in the kitchen anymore, nor was she dead. She was actually alive! As she regained her focus she saw, straight ahead in front of her, a blurry face looking straight into her eyes. She rubbed her eyes and looked again.

Realising that Shang Xiang was alright Xiao Qiao wrapped her arms around the princess, even though she was still lying down on the bed. Feeling Xiao squashing her body Shang flailed her arms around in an attempt to get the hyperactive young woman off from her.

"Please!" Shang said in a raspy voice. Then she paused. The smoke had damaged her voice! She didn't think she had breathed in so much! Her throat was stinging so instead of speaking she made dodgy hand signals to Xiao, telling her to move. Xiao nodded and sat next to the Wu princess, who closed her eyes again, just as some of the others went over to her. Sun Jian went to sit on the other side of her.

"We're glad you're alright my princess," he said as he patted her head. "I was worried you wouldn't make it…"

"I think we all were," Sun Ce added from where he sat by the window. "The kitchen is in an even worse state than you. I don't think a lot survived in there."

Shang recollected her thoughts and remembered something. She waved her arms around and Xiao moved her ear to her mouth to hear what Shang Xiang was saying. "Can you repeat that?" she said, moving closer. After Shang had 'spoken', Xiao sat up again. "The cook is fine Shang- he's with the healers now. He's not as bad as you were as he stayed nearest to the ground so he didn't get as much of the smoke as you did."

Ce blinked at his sister-in-law. "How did you manage to come up with that theory?"

Xiao giggled. "Easy! Zhou Yu told me! He's so clever!" She turned back to Shang Xiang who was now looking up at the ceiling. "I'm pleased you're alive Shang… it's a good thing he was around when he was!" Xiao smiled. "You have a rescuer Shang Xiang, you lucky girl!"

"Hmmm?" was the faint reply.

"Oh! I don't think you remember, or you were out cold at the time. You see, Gan Ning was in the mood for a drink, as he usually is, and he decided to go down to the kitchens shortly after you did. He smelt the smoke, and saw you and the cook on the floor. He rescued you both…" She looked at Shang who was flapping her arms wildly. "Where is he? He's sitting in the courtyard with Lu Meng waiting to hear news about your recovery. He'll be pleased that you're awake. I'll just go and tell him!"

"Don't think that you're going anywhere young lady!" warned Sun Jian as his daughter tried to sit up. "You've still got smoke in your system and I'm not letting you out of my sight until the moment the healers say you're one hundred percent recovered. I don't want anything happening to you again." He put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back onto the bed. Shang sighed and covered her face with her hands. She couldn't stay in her room all day! She hated to feel as if she was being locked it like a caged animal… she at least wanted to say thank you to Gan Ning and let him know how grateful she was.

A small knock was heard on the door so Xiao jumped from the bed and ran over to answer it. In her usual girly fashion she skipped happily to the door- Sun Jian and Sun Ce simply rolled their eyes at her behaviour. She seemed to always be in a giggly mood and she was full of energy and high spirits. After seeing who it was she turned around.

"Da and I are going to dance now, so I'll see you all later!" Xiao bowed politely and then skipped off with her sister to the dance hall. Jian then looked towards his daughter.

"I'm afraid that Ce and I have to go and take care with some business… mainly finding out the cause of the fire. I trust you'll stay in this room…"

Sun Ce laughed from where he stood. "Shang? Stay in one place? Ha! She'll be out the window before you can say 'the Little Conqueror rules'!" He also laughed at the expression his father's face. It was blank, and it looked as if Jian believed Ce…

"Right, that's it. I'm sending someone here to look after you! I know what you're like!" Jian then looked at Shang Xiang, who had now got up from lying down and was now pleading silently with him, putting her hands together and begging. Jian simply shook his head and stood up from the bed. He called over Sun Ce and headed towards the door. "I'm going to go now and take care of business, and your brother's coming with me. I'm sending someone up to guard you, but if you even step foot out of this room, via the door or the window, I'm going to take all of the weapons out of your room and give them to the peasants. Is that understood?"

Sun Jian ignored his daughter's puppy dog expression and walked towards the door with Sun Ce. After they had disappeared, Sun Shang Xiang flung herself onto her bed, burying her head into one of the fluffy pillows. Why her? It was a nice day outside- the sun was out and it was warm… and she was stuck inside! Inside her head she started plotting an escape route….

* * *

On the bench in the courtyard Lu Meng sat with his friend Gan Ning, catching some of the sunlight's rays. It was a hot day which meant that most of the generals were outside relaxing in the sun. They had all been worried about what had happened last night and had wished that the princess was well, but it was too good a day to sit around the castle doing nothing.

Gan Ning read the letter to Lu Meng from his mother and handed it back. "Your mother sounds worried about you Meng… maybe you should start looking for a wife!"

"But my job is more important. Protecting the kingdom means more to me than starting a family. Besides, I have a long time for that."

"No offence Meng, but your mother isn't getting any younger. I think she'd like to see you have a family before she gets older and passes on."

The older Wu general couldn't believe that Gan Ning, the ex-pirate, was actually giving advice! Ning usually only ever gave advice about drinking and boats, but this time he was actually trying. "I don't know Ning… I mean, do you see yourself getting married and settling down, far away from your wild ways?"

Ning had to think about this. A family life was a very large step up from his previous pirate life. There were some things he wanted to keep from his past but a family would put so much pressure on him to act more mature. "I don't see myself getting married but it's something I'd like, when the right girl comes along and steals my heart away."

"And when do you think that will happen? Do you have your eyes on someone?"

"What? Is this 'interrogate Ning' time? Don't think you're getting anything out of me Meng! This is you we're talking about so quit trying to change the subject!" Ning tried to hide his frustration but it was hard… Lu Meng could get anything out of anyone. "So Meng needs a woman?"

"That's not what I said Ning…"

"Yes, it's what I understood from what you said. That can easily be arranged for you! A lovely wife-to-be coming to Lu Meng…" Ning then snickered to himself, ignoring the worried look on his friend's face. From the corner of his eye he could see Meng go red, so he started to roar with laughter, just as Sun Ce approached them. Ce noticed what was going on and decided to ignore it. It just looked like the usual teasing that Ning did to Meng.

"Just the man I needed to see!" Ce said to Ning.

"Huh?"

"Pops asked me to ask you to baby sit little sister while we're finding out what happened last night. She's in her room and needs supervision in case she tries to escape… will you?"

Gan Ning paused to think of a reply, but Lu Meng had thought of one for him. "Ning would LOVE to go and baby sit!" Meng pushed Ning from the bench and onto his feet. "Well what are you waiting for Ning? The princess can't look after herself!" Meng then watched as the ex-pirate made his way back into the castle. Now that Ning was gone, he could concentrate on writing a reply to his mother, but what to write? He didn't want to get her hopes up, so decided to wait a bit. If Ning could find him a woman then there was a chance, but for now, that ex-pirate couldn't be trusted…

* * *

Gan Ning stood outside Sun Shang Xiang's room and slowly opened the door. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, and made his way into the room. He almost expected Shang Xiang to run to the door and rush past him at the sight of a possible escape route. What hit him the most was the silence- he couldn't hear a thing. Not even the sound of protest against Sun Jian! He looked around- he couldn't see anyone. Was this a trick? If he was supposed to be supervising Shang Xiang in her room, then where was she? He stood near the bed and glanced around the room again. Still no sign… until he looked near the window… and the silhouette behind the curtains…

He tapped his foot on the wooden floor three times, and noticed that the figure behind the curtains froze completely still. He knew it was her, and she was trying to escape through the window. He knew that because the window had been, for several years, Sun Shang Xiang's favourite escape route.

"I can see you Shang," ha called out. "It's me, Ning. I won't tell anyone you tried to escape, just come out here."

Shang Xiang moved slightly, and then slowly emerged from the window. She didn't look too happy, and she was dressed in her sparring outfit, ready to escape. She smiled when she saw Ning, and went over to him, spread her arms out and hugged him tight. This took Ning by surprise, but then he realised she was trying to say 'thank you' to him. Ce had briefly mentioned her temporary loss of vocals, so he let her hug him. He hugged her back and smiled. "I'm glad you're alright- you gave me quite a scare yesterday!"

Shang nodded, and after the hug went to sit on her bed. Ning followed and sat next to her. She wanted to speak so badly, but it hurt to talk no matter how little she spoke. She could speak extremely quietly but even then people would have difficulty hearing her. She sighed deeply, making Ning take notice.

"You want to speak don't you?" he asked, looking at her with sympathy. She nodded. "You'll get your voice back soon; you just have to give it some rest. I'm sure Jian won't keep you locked up in here forever; I'll make sure of that! Besides, we can't have you missing out on all the fun!" He notices her confused expression and decided to elaborate further. "You see, our good friend Lu Meng needs a woman. His mother's getting all stressed at him that he hasn't settled down and started a family yet, so I plan on setting him up on a blind date! Well, it's not really a plan, more of a joke… that's where I need your help…"

Gan Ning leant over to Shang Xiang and told her the details of his plan quietly so that no one who may have been on the outside could hear. Shang giggled as Ning told her of the proposed 'plan'- this was definitely something she wanted to be a part of! Plus it meant more time spent with Ning, and that was always good fun. As she ran through the details in her head, she suddenly thought of an idea to help.

She jumped from the bed and ran over to the large wardrobe on the side of one the bedroom walls. She opened one of the doors and flicked through several articles of clothing until she reached what she was looking for. Out of the wardrobe she pulled out a long maroon dress with short sleeves, with some embroidery on it. It looked as if it had only been worn occasionally, if it had ever been worn at all. Shang carried it over and held it up in front of Ning. She smiled as he examined it carefully.

"It's perfect!" he exclaimed. "This should fit fine… Meng had better get ready for his date!"


	14. Aftermath

A/N- I just had my first exam today... eep! I tried uploading this last night but my compy was being totally stupid :P If any of you guys have exams I wish you the best of luck and I know you'll all pass with flying colours! In the meanwhile I hope you enjoy this chapter while taking a break... good luck! And for those of you not taking exams... have fun and take care:)

* * *

**Chapter 14: Aftermath**

With a large dusty book Zhou Yu sat next to Taishi Ci in the library. Using an old cloth he carefully wiped the dust from the cover- it read 'Medical Phenomena Explained', and he opened it to the first page. Ci watched nervously as Yu scanned the contents page, and after glancing at each heading, eventually found the section he was looking for.

"Have you found it?" Ci asked as Yu flicked through the pages.

Zhou Yu simply nodded in reply as he stopped at the appropriate chapter, 'Unexplained Disturbances'. Using his finger he scanned through the pages, zoning in on the text as he did so to find anything about sleepwalking. Poor Taishi Ci had felt so guilty after waking everyone up, but he was grateful that he had warned about the fire. He had strenuously denied starting the fire- he couldn't start a fire when he was awake let alone asleep! He wanted to know what was causing this- he couldn't go on this way! Suddenly Yu smiled and stopped.

"Sleepwalking," he read from the book, "is the act or instance of walking or performing another activity associated with wakefulness while asleep or in a sleep like state."

"I know that…but what is causing this? Does it say? What does it say?" Ci grew more impatient.

"Hang on Ci! Ah, it says here… sleepwalking often occurs if the patient is highly stressed or has something rather pressuring on their mind… "

Taishi Ci sighed. "But I'm fine! Really, nothing is playing on my mind at all. I have no serious problems that I should be worried about. In fact, you could even say that I'm happy!"

Frantically Yu re-read the page he was on. "Well if that's not it, what is the cause?" Just as he was about to give up on playing doctor, a knock was heard on the door, and the head of Lu Xun peered through the gap.

"Is it alright if I come in?" Xun asked, nervous of the frustrated expression on Zhou Yu's face. After receiving the 'nod of approval' he entered the room, and went to sit on the other side of Taishi Ci. He immediately noticed the book…

The elder Wu strategist noticed Xun's stare. "Is something the matter Lu Xun?"

Lu Xun continued looking at the book. "That book is wrong… it's all wrong…"

"What do you mean?"

"That book is seriously outdated. One of the healers found several mistakes in there- some of them so wrong they could've proved fatal. If you want to know what's causing Ci's sleepwalking, you'd be better off talking to one of the healers, ask some of the local people… or you could consult one of my books. I have a really good medical book in my room that I could bring to show you!"

Ci and Yu looked at each other- they weren't going to refuse Xun's offer. The faster they found the solution to the problem the better…

"Alright then Lu Xun," said Ci, "we'll look in your book! Anything to stop me sleepwalking!"

With a smile on his face the younger strategist stood up from his seat and headed back towards the exit doors. He opened them and stepped out, and started walking in the direction of his room. After Xun was out of sight Yu went back to reading the book, hoping he could find something.

"What if someone has done something to me?" Ci asked anxiously. "What if it isn't my fault after all?"

"Relax Ci, we'll find out what it is soon. We just have to wait… patience is the key…"

Lu Xun picked up his pace as soon as he left the library. Knowing Taishi Ci quite well he knew that Ci would let his impatience get the better of him, and Yu would stand no chance of leaving the room with any sanity intact. He passed the conference rooms and several store cupboards until he reached one of the large staircases. Taking two steps at a time he bounded up the stairs with ease, his light frame making it easier for him. Having reached the top he took a sharp left turn and started towards his room. His room was the only place he could find peace and serenity- it was far too chaotic anywhere else.

* * *

He noticed it was very quiet. It was still warm outside so he assumed that the Qiaos would be out on a picnic on the castle grounds, the generals would be sparring or taking it easy under the sun… I can get used to this quiet he pondered as he approached his room at the end of the shadowed corridor.

Finally he had reached his door, and he took off his hat. Xun knew he shouldn't be wearing it in this heat but he always ended up feeling so naked without it. It was as if the hat was part of him… Out from one of the inside flaps of the hat he took out a large brass key- the key to his room. He inserted it into the keyhole and turned it to the right to unlock it. As he turned it he realised that nothing was happening. The key just stayed in the same position! He tried turning again even harder, but still nothing. That's odd he thought, I remember locking it when I left this morning…He took the key out of the hole and decided to twist the handle.

To his surprise it was open… he always locked the door behind him in fear that one of the sneaky generals would go into his room and read the diary where he kept all of his thoughts. The last time that had happened a drunken Gan Ning had found it and had proceeded to read them out while everyone was eating dinner. Xun didn't know that the generals would find his personal troubles so entertaining! He slowly opened the door- was someone in there? He didn't think anything of it so entered his room.

Just as he stepped his left foot into the room he felt something- or someone- grab hold onto his neck and pull him in. Xun then felt a strong hand over his mouth. He tried to make a noise but the force was too strong. He struggled but another pair of hands grabbed his legs and started to tie them up. Lu Xun didn't know what was happening to him, and he wasn't strong enough to free himself from the tight grip. The next thing he knew he was being blindfolded and he could hear, in the midst of the noise, a voice…

"We got 'im!"

As each minute of Lu Xun's absence passed, Taishi Ci grew more and more impatient. When was that boy going to come back? He tapped his fingers hard against the table out of boredom while gazing out of the window. He glanced at Zhou Yu who was also sitting there waiting for the younger strategist to arrive, and it seemed that he was taking his time. Usually Xun would be quick and efficient whatever task he was given- it was very rare that he'd be late. Nearly half an hour had passed, and it was evident that Xun had either not found the book and hadn't bothered to tell them that, or simply something happened along the way to retrieve the book. Whatever had happened, it was time to do something else.

"Hey, Zhou Yu?"

Yu looked up from staring at the book. "Yes?"

"How about we go to the kitchens? I don't know what it looks like yet- you guys have kept me under close supervision since last night and locked me in here like an animal."

"We only want to make sure you're okay Ci. We can go to the kitchens, yes. We might even see Lord Sun Jian there as he and Ce are investigating the cause of the fire." Yu shut the book and stood up. Deciding that Lu Xun wasn't going to come back he led the way out of the library.

They couldn't see any sign of Lu Xun as they walked out of the library and to the burnt kitchen. As they suspected all was quiet, and they wondered how Sun Shang Xiang was doing. They had heard briefly from Sun Ce that she was awake now and had lost her voice, so that was one possible explanation to why it was so quiet. The pair slowed down as the blackened kitchen came into view…

"This doesn't look good…" Ci said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. Did he do this? He wanted to know- he would never do anything to harm anyone in the castle!

"I know it doesn't Ci, but we have to wait and see." Zhou Yu entered the smoky room first and Taishi Ci followed. Surrounding them was the charred remains of tables and chairs, the stained walls, and some of the smoke still lingering in the atmosphere. Through the mess they could see Sun Jian and Sun Ce walking around the rubble, searching for any clues.

"Any luck?" Zhou Yu called out.

"Hey there buddy!" Ce popped his head around a cupboard door and greeted his sworn brother. "Ah, so I see you're up now Ci! Feeling better?"

Taishi Ci shook his head as he took a walk around the kitchen. It looked atrocious- the fire had blazed through it and touched all parts of it, leaving nothing in its original state. The generals were now using a makeshift kitchen on the other side of the castle and they were all eating outside due to the smoke spreading to the dining hall.

"We couldn't find a solution to his sleepwalking," Yu continued. "It could've just been a one-off occasion… but I did think of another theory. Maybe it was something he ate…"

"But I've eaten the same as everyone else and you guys haven't started sleepwalking, have you?"

"No, but what have you eaten or drank outside of meal times? You did drink an awful lot of wine at my party…"

Ci laughed. "So did you 'Party Boy'! I believe you had more than I did!"

Zhou Yu looked annoyed as Sun Ce joined in with the laughter. He didn't need to be reminded about that! He did seriously think that the elevated levels of alcohol had triggered the sleepwalking attack- Taishi Ci was still on medication for the bruises he had sustained at the hands of Huang Gai during sparring, and as everyone knew, alcohol and medication was not the best of mixtures.

"Hey, I think I've found something!"

The three younger men looked in the direction of Sun Jian, who was knelt over a blackened object. The slowly approached him, treading over the other remains on the floor.

"What is it Pops?" asked Ci, trying to peer over Jian's shoulder, trying to look and see what was there.

Jian looked closer, and was shocked when he began to recognise it. It couldn't be… "This… this… this is one of Huang Gai's bombs!"

"WHAT?" was the unified response. If this was Gai's bomb, then was it him who planted it and set it off? Huang Gai was a senior and very responsible member of Wu though, and it just wasn't like him to do anything like that.

"Huang Gai was asleep at the time though!" said Ce. "And since when has that man done anything bad? He's practically a saint!"

"Yes, and he's my most trusted general and aide… I don't believe that it was him." Jian stood up and sighed. "I think someone either accidentally set it off or someone from outside the castle is trying to put our lives in danger. We'll ask everyone what they know at dinner, but for now, we just need to concentrate on getting everything back to normal. Understood?"

Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and Taishi Ci nodded in unison as Sun Jian proceeded to leave the room. It would take a lot of work to get this sorted out, but they knew that with everyone's combined efforts it could easily be achieved.

* * *

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING TO ME?"

Sun Shang Xiang giggled as she tied the last knot in the rope used to bind Lu Xun to a chair. He kept on struggling but the knot was tight, so no escape! She patted his head like an animal and went to stand by Gan Ning. She had a smirk on her face- Xun looked so helpless, and his struggling only made her want to laugh more!

"Now Xun," Ning started, "you may know that our good friend Lu Meng is in a time of trouble. As his most trusted friends we should be there to help him, don't you agree?"

"Of course I agree but I don't see how tying me up like this is going to achieve anything!"

Ning grinned as Xun became more and more agitated at the position he was in. "Shouting will get you nowhere Xunie boy! Now, about the type of trouble Meng is in… he is having woman troubles. You see, his mother is concerned that he spends too much time involved in his work to enjoy the company of the opposite, so Shang Xiang and I are going to set him up with a lady friend. We'll show him the other side of life!"

"You silly pirate, can't you see that if you want you set him up with a lady you actually need one! Go outside and get a female!" Lu Xun struggled some more. "Why you guys tied me up I don't know…"

After hearing some snickering coming from the pair Xun looked up and noticed their devilish smiles. He watched in horror as Ning pulled out from behind him one of Shang Xiang's dresses. Slowly Ning and Shang walked closer to him, and suddenly Xun found himself in an impossible to escape position. He tried to shout out but Ning had now covered his mouth, and Shang Xiang was doing something to his face. He could feel some brushes on his cheeks and he could smell the faint smell of jasmine… He closed his eyes and tried to think of a way out of this.

"That's it Shang! Make his cheeks a little bit rosier!" Ning encouraged Shang Xiang as she made up his face with some of the Qiaos' makeup. She didn't spare on the blush and made him look even more feminine than he already was. Xun could see the mischievous glint in her eye as she used him like a blank canvas and Ning watching as he held him down.

After the Wu princess had finished her job, she went to get the dress that Ning had left on the floor. She picked it up and showed Xun what he'd be wearing. She jokingly held it up to her and twirled around with it, before bringing it over. She nodded to Ning and he nodded back.

"Well Xun," he said, "it's time to give Lu Meng his surprise!"


	15. Playing Detective and Dress Up

A/N- Sorry sorry sorry for the long wait:P I've been so busy, and I'm going to be busier! I'll try my best to update when I can but please be patient... after June I'll be freed from the strain of exams and free to write fan fiction all summer long! That is, when I'm not glued to DW5... hehe...

* * *

**Chapter 15: Playing Detective and Dress-Up**

The two elder Sun men stood side by side outside the burned kitchen and sighed. Where was Huang Gai? They needed answers to the mystery of the bomb had ended up in the kitchen and exploded, and it felt as if they were detectives, sneaking around the castle in search of clues. Sun Jian couldn't wait until dinner to ask everybody there- if it wasn't Huang Gai then it'd be pretty embarrassing, so he thought he and Ce'd try and find out as fast as they could.

"Where do you think he'll be Pops?" Ce asked his father as he leant against the wall.

"I'm not sure… usually he'd be teaching Shang some martial arts but seeing as she's in her room recovering I'm guessing he'd be in the courtyard training."

"Let's go then!" Ce separated himself from the wall, stood up straight, and started heading towards the direction of the courtyard. He noticed that as he approached the exit door his father was still behind quite a way back. "Pops, are you starting to feel your age?"

Sun Jian quickly shook his head in denial. Of course I'm not feeling like an old man he told himself. I'm as young as I was 20 years ago! "No, I'm just a bit tired son. You know I didn't get much sleep after last night."

"Yeah, sure you didn't…"

Jian shook his head and followed Ce, purposely walking a little bit faster just to prove Sun Ce wrong. He pushed the doors open and allowed for his eldest son to leave first, frowning as he saw the smirk on Ce's face. The pair strolled towards the familiar courtyard and stopped by the perimeter of the training grounds. As guessed correctly, Huang Gai was indeed in training, except this time with Sun Quan. Zhou Tai was lying underneath a tree in the shade, reading a large thick book.

"Good afternoon my Lords!" Gai called out from his spot. He was in a power deadlock with Quan, carefully keeping his balance so that he didn't topple over and crush the young prince. "What can I do to help you?"

"Well Huang Gai, we just-"

"We found one of your bombs in the kitchen where the explosion happened," interrupted Sun Ce as he walked up close to his brother. "It was at the point where the fire started…" Ce, in his usual playful mood, waved a hand in front of Quan's face, trying to distract him from the job at hand.

"Huh?" Gai responded, shocked. "But surely I haven't been so careless as to leave a bomb in such a place where people could get hurt, especially the people who are like family to me? No, I don't think I did it. I'm careful with those bombs and you guys know that."

Jian nodded at his best friend and aide- Huang Gai may have been big and strong but he certainly wasn't careless. "But if it wasn't you then who could it have been? Did anyone have access to your bombs?"

"No, but Sun Quan here did ask me if he could study some of them and how they work in battle…" Gai trailed off and noticed the worried expression on the young prince's face. He couldn't have… could he?

* * *

"Ah, and the transformation is complete!"

Gan Ning smiled as he held up a large mirror up to Lu Xun. He showed the young strategist his reflection, and needless to say Xun was not pleased. He frowned as he looked at himself and what the two 'monsters' had done to him. His cheeks were fully rouged and his lips now a worryingly feminine shade of pink. His golden eyes surrounded in a sea of pale blue eye shadow, and his normally straight brown hair had been curled and lavishly decorated with silk flowers and ribbons. It was enough to make the poor boy sick to his stomach. It was hard enough not being able to do anything about it. His hands were tied around his back, only released in the short time it took for Sun Shang Xiang and the mischievous ex-pirate to force him into the maroon dress. He had shuddered as the silk touched his bare skin- it was like a bad dream and he just wanted to wake up.

From where she stood next to a small table Shang Xiang clapped to show her opinion. It was annoying her that she couldn't speak yet and flapping her arms around was starting to ache. She ran over to Ning and pointed to herself questioningly.

"Oh yeah! That's the plan! You don't mind do you?"

Shang Xiang shook her head as she smiled. Before she left the room she patted Lu Xun's head, grinned at him, and waved to the two men as she left them alone. As she walked out she remembered that she was still meant to be locked in her room, so she sneaked stealthily along the long corridor trying to keep out of sight. It was important that she didn't get caught- if she had then she would never be able to go through with the plan! From downstairs she heard someone talking… it sounded like Da Qiao so she hid behind a wall until the sound stopped. She sighed before grabbing her door handle and running inside.

As soon as she entered the weapon laden room she headed straight for the wardrobe. There were two sides to it, and one side had hardly been opened. In fact, the handle was starting to get dusty, but it had on it a handprint from earlier that day. Sun Shang Xiang closed the room door before opening the unused wardrobe door. In front of her a small selection of dresses were revealed, unworn and still in their original state. There was an empty space from where the maroon dress (now on Lu Xun) had been, and below the dresses were a row of equally unworn dainty shoes. She sighed again as she began to examine the outfits. It was time to choose a dress for herself…

* * *

"I swear it wasn't me! I promise!"

Sun Quan picked up some of his long robe in his hands and ran around the courtyard as he was chased by a rather angry Sun Jian. Jian was waving his sword around, his face red with anger.

"Your sister could've died in that fire!" he screamed as he chased his second son. Sun Ce was now sitting underneath the tree next to Zhou Tai watching on, smiling, glad that it wasn't him facing the wrath of the Tiger.

"Please! It WASN'T me!"

"You had the bombs! Therefore, IT WAS YOU!"

The frightened prince ran to behind the tree, and after giving his elder brother a kick in his back, proceeded to climb it, shedding his robe as he did. He didn't once stop until he had reached the safety of the higher branches.

"Quan, you coward!" Ce called upwards. "Face your punishment like a man!"

"What punishment? I thought you could only get punished if you did something wrong!"

Sun Ce chuckled. "Not in the Sun family law…"

Jian walked slowly up to the tree, trying to hide the fact that he was gasping for breath. He knew he was getting too old for chasing his children around the place, but what if word got out that he was starting to feel old? Ce and Quan would begin arguments about who should get the throne, and Jian certainly didn't need that…

"Dad! You know I'd never do anything to harm anyone!" Quan pleaded as he held onto the branches for dear life. "If you put your sword away I'll come down!"

"If you don't come down I'll come up there!"

Quan gulped. "But I didn't do it! If you'll just let me explain…"

"Explain what? That you left a highly explosive bomb in the kitchen, causing it to burn down? There's not much to explain there!"

From in the middle of the action Zhou Tai shook his head disapprovingly. The Suns had only just got out of their therapy session and it already seemed as if they'd need another! He knew that the quiet peacefulness wouldn't last long.

"Dad! I gave one of the bombs to someone else! They said they wanted to have a look at one because they wanted to learn how to use them!"

"WHAT?"

"He said he was thinking of a strategy and wanted to know how he could use bombs!"

"And who was this exactly?"

"Promise you won't tell them?"

"No."

Sun Quan sighed. "It was Lu Xun. I'm sure he didn't mean to leave it there! You know him, he's always careful. Hey, Dad, where are you going?" He sat in the tree as he watched Jian drag Ce along back to the castle.

"To find Lu Xun!"

* * *

Relaxing in the library, Lu Meng leant back into one of the soft chairs and stared up at the ceiling. He hadn't heard from Gan Ning for a while now and was starting to worry. What was that ex-pirate scheming? Quite frankly he didn't want to know. Ning's schemes weren't always fully thought out and they usually went wrong… horribly wrong… Meng wasn't too bothered about his situation. He had enjoyed the bachelor lifestyle for all of his life so far, so he didn't see why spending the rest of his life as a singleton would be any different. He was just confused with all of his emotions flying all over the place. If only life was easy…

"There ya are!"

Meng sat back up straight and saw none other than Gan Ning approaching him. Ning sat on the table edge and grinned at his friend.

"What are you up to Ning?"

"What do you mean? I happen to have a surprise in store for you, and let me say you're going to be a very lucky man! Very lucky indeed…" Ning patted the general's back. "Cheer up! You need to be happy for your date!"

"Date? You got me set up on a DATE?"

"Not exactly a date. It's more of a double date, to make you feel more at ease."

"You got me TWO women?"

"Heck no! You'd be a nervous wreck if I got you two! Nah, I'm taking the Lady Sun along…"

"What kind of date is this?"

"It's a date! Just a simple dinner date underneath the sunset… do you have a problem with that Meng? Or did you want something fancier than that?"

"No, I'm just surprised that you're going to. And with Sun Shang Xiang… is there something you're not telling me?"

The ex-pirate tried to cover up the embarrassed expression on his face by forcing himself not to smile, trying to keep a straight face. "What? I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Ah, it's not so funny when I'm doing it to you is it?" Meng smirked. "I know how close you two are…"

"Listen Meng, we're just friends! We're doing this for you, so be grateful!" Gan Ning jumped off the table and started to walk towards the doors he had entered from. "I've asked the chef to prepare the meal for just before sunset, so don't bother going to the main dinner. And it's formal dress so be smart!"

Lu Meng shook his head as Ning left him alone. As if he needed to be told to dress smartly! If anything that ex-pirate needed to be saying that to himself! Even if the date didn't go according to plan it would just be worth it to see Gan Ning in something that actually covered his top half…

* * *

"Face it Pops! We ain't gonna find him!" The Little Conqueror watched as his father continued to search in any unlocked room, opening the doors and calling out Lu Xun's name. "He's not here! He might be hiding…"

"He'd better be good at hiding because once I'm finished with him he'll be too scared to show his face again! No one puts my baby girl's life at risk!"

Ce sighed and followed Jian along the corridor of bedrooms. They had spent the last hour searching for Xun but they couldn't find him and so far the search had proved hopeless. Perhaps Xun had known this would happen… surely he knew that the explosion had been his fault? If so, it was better for him to not show his face around an angry Sun Jian…

Suddenly the pair heard a door open from behind them. The turned around and saw Lu Meng leave his room, and to their surprise he was dressed in formal wear, in a traditional suit. It was odd seeing him like this, especially as he wasn't smiling. He hadn't been forced into it, so why was he so damn miserable?

"Hey Meng!" Ce called out. "What's the occasion?"

"Forced double date," the general replied glumly. "All thanks to that ex-pirate friend of mine…"

"I see I see… who's your date?"

"I don't know! Ning's got me a surprise date…"

"Well, I wish you luck with your date Lu Meng," Jian called out as he popped his head into a room. "I hope you have better luck with that than I am with finding Lu Xun…"

Lu Meng looked puzzled. "Why are you looking for Lu Xun?"

"He might know something important about last night's fire… something very important…"

"Oh, alright then." Lu Meng straightened out the front of his jacket making sure that he looked somewhat presentable. "I'd best be off then- the date should be starting soon. I'll see you guys later I guess!" He bade the father and son pair farewell before heading down the stairs. As he took each step he felt as if the butterflies in his stomach were jumping. He was so nervous… he didn't know why, it was only a short date, nothing more, nothing less. It wasn't as if he had to marry the first woman he laid eyes on.

Slowly he wandered down the long hallway that led down to the outside eating area. The sun was starting to go down, warming the sky gently. It looked quite pleasing, and Meng hoped that at least the surroundings would lighten his mood.

He stepped outside and walked down some of the steps to the table that had been laid out for four people. Immediately he was greeted by Gan Ning.

"I see you made it!" Ning patted Meng hard on the back, causing him to cough out of shock. "Ah, sorry there! Anyway, here we are at your date!" He pointed towards the neatly decorated table and led Lu Meng towards it. There were two young ladies already sat down- one Lu Meng recognised immediately from the short tomboyish hair as Sun Shang Xiang, except she was wearing a dress. The other one he didn't recognise. This lady was wearing a maroon dress, had short hair, neatly curled with flowers added as a final feminine touch, and was wearing make up that enhanced her pretty features. She looked beautiful…

"Now Lu Meng, I searched long and hard for the perfect date for you, but I found one!" Ning took Meng over to the young lady. Meng could see that she was probably as nervous as he was, and that Shang Xiang was just grinning away.

"And this must be she?" asked Meng as he smiled at his 'date'.

The ex-pirate beamed and nodded. "Lord Lu Meng, let me introduce you to Lady Li!"


	16. Love Blooms

A/N- First off, I apologise for my extreme lateness… I've been doing my A-levels this month and they've only just finished. Whee, no more school! Just the long wait for my results and the start of university. Oh joy :P But while I'm waiting for that to happen, I am here! I am not dead! I hope this makes up for making you guys wait… and I'm sorry again!

* * *

**Chapter 16: Love Blooms**

"Pretty pretty flowers for my Zhou Yu!"

Xiao Qiao skipped around the courtyard picking small yellow flowers for Zhou Yu. She was in her usual hyper girly mood, and what better way to show Zhou Yu how much she loved him by picking him some flowers! He was always happier when she bought him gifts… the last time she had impressed him by bringing him some home made lunch and showing off a new dance she had learned. Her face just lit up whenever he praised her and she would do her best to keep it that way.

"Yellow, pink, purple… all for Zhou Yu!"

As the younger Qiao plucked flowers straight from the flowerbed she began to hum a tune to herself, oblivious to the fact that the sun was starting to set and the sky was turning a warm shade of orange. She skipped through the small flowers and started to sing to her hearts content, occasionally stopping to pick another dainty flower to add to the ever-growing bunch that was in her hand. Butterflies flew around her as she selected the posies that would eventually make it into a vase for her Wu strategist husband. From the corner of her eye Xiao spotted a beautiful yellow rose that had just come into bloom. It looked so magnificent and wonderful… it was like any pretty object that Xiao laid her eyes on- she wanted it. It was the only rose that had bloomed out of the whole bush, so surely no one would notice it too much? Xiao leant forwards and reached for the flower…

"OUCH!"

She recoiled back in pain and screamed as a thorn pierced through the skin of her thumb. Tears fell down her cheeks as she saw a drop of blood emerge from the small hole. The surrounding skin turned a deep shade of pink as the blood rushed to the surface, and Xiao felt helpless. It was a small injury, but she needed comfort. Where was her Zhouie to kiss it better? Still clutching her bunch of flowers she walked back to the castle to find some help. She didn't like to think of herself as weak, but sometimes she just wanted to feel like a little girl again. Settling down into married life had been hard for her, but Zhou Yu had helped her in whatever way he could, and she just wanted to repay him by showing how great a wife she could be!

"Xiao? What are you doing outside? Dinner is nearly ready!"

Hearing the familiar voice of her older sister Xiao turned around to greet Da. Her sister looked flustered, as if she had been running around. "Da!" Xiao thrust her thumb out to show the injury. "I hurt myself… can you help me?"

"Xiao, that is just a thorn prick! It's nothing really… just a little bit of blood."

"But it hurts…" The younger Qiao sister pouted and watched as Da sighed to herself.

"You know Xiao," Da said as she took a small cloth from her pocket and began to wipe up the blood, "you need to learn how to rely by yourself sometimes. Zhou Yu can't be everywhere at once you know. You need to be stronger."

"I just want to be a good wife for him!"

"Yes, but by showing him that you can be strong can also be a way of showing that you are a good wife. He'd be so proud of you if you'd just- hey! Are those my flowers?" Da darted her eyes towards the flowers that Xiao was clutching in her hand. "Those are the flowers I planted! Have you been picking them again?"

Xiao looked nervously towards the castle entrance hoping that someone would come and get her out of this sticky situation. "I'm… sorry? They're so pretty though, in all the shades of the rainbow! Plus they'd look so pretty on Zhou Yu's desk! They smell nice, they'd help him work better! And that way he can help lead Wu to victory…"

"So you're telling me," said Da quite unconvinced, "that the flowers that you picked, the flowers that I spent hours planting to make the castle more attractive, are going to lead Wu to victory?"

"… yes!"

Da sighed again. Xiao was so naïve sometimes and always acted of her own accord. She had tried on countless occasions to get the girl used to unfamiliar situations, but Xiao would always rely on someone else to help her. Her mind seemed to be fixed on making her 'Zhouie' happy. "Are you coming to dinner Xiao?" The girl nodded her head and followed her sister into the castle, forgetting about the short lived pain and skipping quite happily with her husband's gift. Xiao was always so upbeat, and part of Da envied this. Why couldn't she be like that with Sun Ce?

* * *

Gan Ning helped himself to more food as he grinned at Lu Meng from the other side of the table. This plan was going well, he had to admit it. He could see the absolute horror in Lu Xun's face as Meng had asked 'him' questions about how 'she' found Wu. Ning had to force back fits of laughter as Xun put on a high, almost shrill lady-like voice, covering up any masculine tones. It seemed that Xun was getting used to this! And Lu Meng was looking like he was getting into the date quite well. The wine had gone down quite fast since the last time Ning had topped up his cup, and the ex-pirate knew that he hadn't drank that much. Either Meng was starting to loosen up with the alcohol or Sun Shang Xiang was turning into a drunk…

"Lady Li," Meng started after eating a mouthful of rice, "you look like a strong woman… am I right in saying that you practice with a weapon?"

After a brief pause, Xun answered "Yes, that is correct my Lord."

"Which weapons do you like to use?"

"I use…" Xun tried to think. Not sabres, that was for sure! What other weapon? "… a spear."

"A spear? Ah, a wise choice. I myself use a halberd. We must compare techniques on one occasion!"

Lu Meng took a sip from his cup, noticed that it was now empty, and poured himself some more wine. He had started to drink extra as he was initially angry at Ning for setting this up in the first place, but it couldn't be helped now. He was sitting in the date; he had to get through it, wine or no wine.

Ning grinned. "I'm sure everyone would enjoy that! Wouldn't we Shang?"

Sun Shang Xiang nodded away happily, still unable to use her voice. It was funny watching poor Lu Xun suffer- wearing a dress AND having to 'date' Lu Meng must have been hard for him. Even though she was also wearing a dress she was enjoying herself. This was her first date, even if it was a joke one intended for Xun and Meng. She was on a date with Gan Ning, and it was starting to feel like one. While Meng and 'Lady Li' were conversing she would have a 'conversation' with Ning- he would talk and she would listen and nod. Ning always had something interesting to talk about so she wasn't complaining- she just didn't want to let him know how much she was actually enjoying it, but she couldn't deny that her feminine side was starting to take over.

"Oh no, I'm afraid that I won't be able to join you for that occasion!" said Lady Li as she covered her mouth with a fan that had just been opened and spread out. "I'm not good enough to practice with such a talented general such as you!"

"Nonsense my lady!" Lu Meng grasped one of her hands. "We can practice and make you stronger, and besides, the only person I go hard on is the egoistic pirate sitting opposite me."

Gan Ning rolled his eyes. "Egoistic? Me? Pfft, I don't know where you got that from…" He drank some of his wine and turned his gaze towards Shang Xiang just to make sure she was alright. She had been quiet- well, that was expected, she had no voice. But she was keeping herself to herself which wasn't usual for her. "Are you alright Shang?" he asked as Meng carried on talking to his date.

She fiddled with her cup as she nodded and tried not to blush. This was all so new to her. She wasn't used to all these 'girly' emotions. Shang would see Xiao getting all giggly over something that Zhou Yu would say to Xiao, and she just wouldn't understand. But now she was sitting so close to Ning and she was experiencing a new feeling. She couldn't describe it to herself, but why was she feeling like this? He was her friend! No other guy had made her feel like that before… it was all too confusing for her so she drank a bit more. Maybe it was just the wine she wondered as she smiled at him, or were there more possibilities other than just friendship?

* * *

KNOCK KNOCK!

Zhou Yu looked up from his desk in his study and towards the door. He closed the book he was reading- it was the one that Xun had recommended to him, and he was searching for the solution to Ci's sleepwalking. There was the answer that it was just a one-off, and it wouldn't have been such an issue if the fire hadn't started and Ci hadn't woken the entire castle up with the gong. It just seemed rather odd, and Yu preferred to tie up loose ends instead of leaving them hanging.

Just as he was about to stand up and answer the door, it opened and in entered Xiao. She beamed at him and bounded over, clutching a small bouquet of delicate flowers.

"These are for you Zhouie!" she said as she put them out in front of her to show him. She grinned as she watched a smile form on his face.

"They're beautiful Xiao!" He took them from her and planted a kiss on her cheek. She gave a little giggle and smiled back, delighted that he had liked her present. "I think I'll put them on my desk, they'll brighten it up a bit."

Xiao nodded as she watched her husband put them in a vase that had just been emptied earlier that day. "Look Zhouie, I hurt myself…" She lifted her red thumb in the air to show him the miniscule injury.

"Do you want me to kiss it better?" Yu asked as he returned to her. She nodded again, so he took hold of her hand and kissed her thumb just where the thorn had pierced her skin. As soon as he had finished she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as tightly as she could, so tight that the poor strategist was nearly knocked off of his feet. He simply hugged her back and held her close. "Feeling better now?"

"Yes!" Xiao exclaimed, and then gave him a kiss in return. "You always make everything better!" She giggled again before cheerily skipping out of the room to go and find something to do. Yu smiled as she left and went back to sit at his desk.

Why was it so hard to find a simple answer to a seemingly simple problem? For any other medical condition there was a straight forward answer! Yu found himself becoming even more frustrated, so he pushed the book to one side and stood up again. Maybe a walk would clear his mind- it usually worked, so maybe he could find Xiao and spend some time with her before dinner. He began to hum to himself as he headed out of the door.

* * *

"Well, I think they enjoyed themselves!" Gan Ning said as he sat in one of the two small boats floating near the Wu coast. The couples had decided that the perfect way to end the date would be to float along the coast taking in the spectacular view. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon, and it couldn't be a more picturesque scene.

Sun Shang Xiang smiled as she watched the sun go down and sighed. She looked behind her shoulder to see Lu Meng and the dressed up Lu Xun in the other boat, conversing away. She could still see the slightly horrified look on Xun's face, and she knew that it wouldn't be too long until Meng found out. Shang had guessed to herself that the reason Ning had suggested the boat in the first place was so that he could make an easy getaway… give the ex-pirate a boat and he was well away! Luckily for her he was the one steering the boat.

Ning grinned back at the princess and continued to steer, trying to move the boat to where the view was at its most beautiful. It was hard to understand what Shang Xiang was feeling, but from the beam on her face he knew she was happy. "And I think you're enjoying yourself too!" She nodded back, still gazing out at sea. "Yeah… I'm sorry you've had to put up with me for this! I know you'd probably prefer to be with someone like… I don't know, Lu Xun."

Shang shook her head, trying to say no. With one hand held on her heart she touched his arm and smiled. She didn't want to be on a date with Lu Xun, especially not when he was in the state he was in. Even he was normally dressed she would've still preferred to be with Ning. There was just something about the ex-pirate which she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Really?" Ning replied, a bit surprised. "Well, I'm glad you're having a good time with me, because I am too. If you put the joke with them aside I'd say the night's been great. You, me, and a boat. What more could I ask for? The night's been perfect, what d'ya say princess?" He put the oars down and looked out, just as he felt a kiss on his left cheek. He turned to see Shang Xiang facing him, smiling and blushing.

Neither knew what to say as they gazed into each others eyes. What was to happen next? Had that much changed? Friendship could easily turn to love providing it was with the right person, and they both felt the same way. They felt themselves grow closer to each other, their eyes starting to close as they relaxed and let their feelings take over. Their lips silently touched each others…

"YOU CURSED PIRATE!"

Ning quickly opened his eyes and jumped as Meng's halberd flew towards his small boat. It had shot straight for the lower side of it, making a hole form. Water began to flow into the boat, and it started to cover Ning and Shang's feet.

"How DARE you play such a prank on ME!"

Infuriated, Lu Meng steered his boat as fast as he could towards Ning, and when he was close enough, stood up from where he sat and jumped over to the other boat. His weight made the boat capsize and Ning and Shang were sent overboard and straight into the water. Meng found himself collapse and join the now soaking wet pair. His eyes burned with rage as he began to swam as fast as he could towards Ning, but unfortunately for him Ning had foreseen this and had already started his escape.

Bouncing on the surface of the water, Shang Xiang watched as the two generals swam away. Lu Xun was in the other boat, completely red in the face and on the point of breaking down. He couldn't have looked anymore embarrassed. Shang, however, grinned to herself. She was soaking wet, unable to speak… but she was happy. She was in love!


	17. Puppet Master

A/N- I update! Wheeeee:) I've added another crazy plotline in amongst all the existing madness so I hope it makes sense! There's quite a lot going on this chapter but nevertheless it was fun to write. Plus a thought dawned on me... when will I end it? Answer probably is not for an extremely long time... 17 chapters already and I still have loads of ideas. ;) Plus I have the rest of my summer holiday to hammer out more chapters, but that's when I'm not packing my stuff and getting ready to move out :P Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 17: Puppet Master **

Da Qiao sighed as she watched her sister and Zhou Yu take a stroll together from her bedroom window. They seemed so cosy… apparently all that had faded for her and Sun Ce. Ce loved to fight, whereas she preferred to stay in the castle and take care of things inside. The idea of resolving problems using weapons didn't appeal to her in the slightest. Xiao would always go out and fight on Zhou Yu's side, no matter who the enemy was. Sometimes Da would watch as they returned from battle, and Yu would always be telling stories of how Xiao had managed to ward off enemies using her fans, and how she would shine like a star on the battle field. Their relationship just seemed perfect! Da wouldn't have expected that from Xiao, that was for sure. Her younger sister didn't exactly come across as the type of girl who wanted to settle down in a relationship- she seemed as if she would rather spend her days dancing and singing and being free like a bird. It must've been a case of opposites attracting was the conclusion that Da had been forced to accept, and that her sister's relationship with her husband was much better than her own.

"Hey there my beautiful wife!"

The elder Qiao turned around from the window seat and saw her own husband approach her. Sun Ce stood beside her and grinned, whilst playing with the tonfas that he held in each hand.

"So… how are you doing?"

"Fine," was Da's faint response. There wasn't really much else she wanted to say, life had just grew… quiet. "Why aren't you with your father?"

"You know what he's like, he's gone out somewhere with Huang Gai on business before dinner. Zhou Tai's with Quan, the others aren't around, Zhou Yu and Xiao are on a walk, and you're in here…" Ce could sense that she wasn't alright, but he wasn't one for sussing out the female mind. He would've much preferred the direct approach with her telling him exactly what was wrong but that didn't seem likely. It was hard to get anything out of Da when she was like this- she just kept herself to herself.

Da stood up and faced her husband, the look on her face not one of sadness but defiance. "When are you ever going to take me out for a walk? Or when are you going to ever do anything that is remotely romantic?" She pointed outside to where her sister and Zhou Yu had stopped. "They're always doing nice things together and Zhou Yu is so sweet towards Xiao… what happened to the spark in our marriage?"

Lost for words Ce did the only thing he knew how to do in these types of situations- he scratched his head and hoped that an answer would pop into his head, but unfortunately Da was asking a question with no simple answer. How could he get himself out of this situation? He looked around nervously, hoping that a distraction would present itself… and it did in an unlikely form.

"Shang! What… what happened to you?"

In the frame of the door stood Sun Shang Xiang… dripping wet and standing there with a grin on her face. She didn't seem bothered that she was wearing a dress… both Ce and Da were dumbfounded as to why on earth she was wearing it. It wasn't right at all… was something up with her mind?

Da brushed past Ce and went straight over to her sister-in-law. "Shang, are you alright?" The girl looked like she was in a daze, just standing there like she had become detached from reality. Something had happened to her but she wasn't saying. Well, she still couldn't, but something had to give away what she was thinking.

The young Sun smiled widely and nodded, and opened her mouth to say something. Her response was very faint and quiet, but Da swore she could make out "Of course I'm fine, I couldn't be better!" That was somewhat comforting to hear and as Shang turned back and left Da couldn't help wonder… was everyone happy but herself?

* * *

"Have mercy on me Meng! We're buddies remember?"

"Want to rephrase that, pirate? Since when did buddies play such horrible pranks?"

Turning a corner of the castle Gan Ning ran up a large flight of steps in order to escape his pursuer. Lu Meng was in a rage and like a bull chasing red. He wasn't going to stop until he had Ning! To Ning's horror Meng followed him up the steps and on top of the castle. There was nothing but open space and some disused catapults- no where to run, no where to hide so it seemed…

Ning stopped and leant back against one of the catapults, his arms out in front of him as Lu Meng slowed down and approached him. "Please Meng? It was only a joke, you know that!"

"A joke? Well, some joke that was! Do you know what happened to me?"

"Erm… do I want to know?"

Meng slammed his fist onto the catapult next to Ning, causing the ex-pirate to shake with worry. It was scary to see Lu Meng like this- he was normally a calm and reserved general, nothing like what he had become. This Lu Meng was angry and out for blood… the blood of Gan Ning. "Well, let's just say that it wasn't very pleasant for me or the so-called 'Lady Li'… I wish never to talk about it."

"You tried to kiss him didn't you?" Ning noticed the blood rush to Meng's face… well, the space of his face that wasn't already red. "You DID? Oh Meng…"

"Don't 'Oh Meng' me! Do you know how embarrassing that was for me? And no I didn't kiss him!"

"Hehe, that means you nearly did… so I'm saved?"

Lu Meng smiled sinisterly and grinned. "Don't think you're getting out of this so easily my friend…" He looked down at the grounds of the castle and noticed Ning starting to shake.

"You're not going to throw me off the castle are you?"

"Now why would I do that?" Meng chuckled. "No, I'm going to use this situation to my advantage." He watched as Sun Jian and Huang Gai re-entered the castle on the horses and nodded to himself. "I noticed that you and Sun Shang Xiang got a little bit closer on the boat? If my eyes served me well you two were sharing a kiss, am I right?"

It was Ning's turn to go red this time and he simply gave a little nod, unsure of what Lu Meng was thinking. Meng was a strategist and therefore good at thinking of clever ideas, and it was this fact that made Ning even more worried about his fate.

"Ah, so the princess and pirate have found love… I wonder what Sun Jian would say about that…" Meng smiled as the colour drained from his friend's face. No one wanted to face the wrath of Sun Jian! Everyone knew that Jian was most protective of Shang Xiang what with her being the youngest and only female member of the Sun family, and he was always keeping an eye on her from a distance. Jian had guarded Shang closely for most of her life and that included protecting her from anyway unwanted attention from men. Luckily she hadn't taken an interest in the opposite sex so no man had been unfortunate enough to feel the power of the Tiger of Jiang Dong.

"No… you can't tell him! He'd kill me!"

"Exactly…" Meng paced up and down in front of the frightened ex-pirate. "You will be under my control, do what I ask you to do with no questions asked, and if you don't…" He pointed to the nearest catapult. "…I'm sure it'll be you in that catapult with Sun Jian at the controls. Understood?"

"You can't do that! That's blackmail!"

"I repeat, is that understood?"

Gan Ning gulped at the thought of Sun Jian catapulting him out of Wu. Wu was his home; he didn't want to have to leave it. Considering his options he came to the conclusion that there was only one choice he had…

* * *

Zhou Tai hummed to himself as he passed the series of Wu bedrooms to get to his own. It was nice and quiet, just how Tai liked it. Everyone was busy with something, and it was nice to finally have some time to himself…

"Hey Tai, wait up!"

Tai groaned as the familiar voice of Sun Quan sounded behind him. It seemed that whenever Zhou Tai got some time to himself something or someone, namely Sun Quan, would disturb him. The only way he could get time alone was by locking himself in a room and closing the windows but he didn't think that Sun Jian would allow that.

"You called my lord?" Tai turned around and came face to face with Quan who had just stopped running in front of him. He noticed a flyer in the young lord's hand and the suspicious grin on his face.

Quan flattened out the flyer and held it up in front of Tai's face. "I found this in one of the taverns in the next town over… it's a strength contest! First prize is a new horse, said to be just as fast as that horse Red Hare!"

"But you have a horse already, why would you want to enter this? You do realise that the men who enter these types of contests are extremely strong…"

"I know that, but I've been training hard lately. I think I stand a chance, don't you think so too?"

Zhou Tai blinked. He'd seen these contests too many times before- he knew that Quan didn't stand a chance. These men were beefy and strong, over six feet tall and had deep booming voices. Sun Quan didn't come anywhere near close. He didn't want to dash his hopes though as Quan had a tendency to sulk when things didn't go his way.

"You'd really have to see for yourself on that one, it's hard to tell. If you think you're strong enough then go ahead…"

"Great! Will you come with me then?"

Tai nodded. "I guess I'll have to… you need protecting and who knows what'll happen in this. Does your father know what you're planning on doing?"

"You can't tell him! He'd kill me if he found out! You know what he's like… he says that I should stay alive so the hopes for Wu's future aren't completely destroyed." He turned on his unconvincing puppy dog eyes expression. "Please Zhou Tai? Please don't tell Father?" Quan smiled when Tai nodded his head, and patted his bodyguard on the back. "I know you have faith in me Tai, and I promise I won't prove you wrong!"

* * *

The lights warmed up the courtyard as Xiao Qiao and Zhou Yu sat on a bench near one of the tall blossom trees. Some of the blossoms started to fall down on them as they gazed out into the distance, watching as the sun began to set on the Wu grounds. Xiao giggled as Yu held her hand, thinking and reminding herself how lucky she was. Something was digging at the back of her mind though- her sister. She had partially noticed how unhappy her sister had been, but then again she was too busy with Zhou Yu to pay too much attention. She may have been dizzy with love but not too dizzy to notice how much different Sun Ce was than Da. It seemed unfair that she was happy in love but her sister was becoming less and less happy with her own marriage.

"Zhouie, have you noticed anything wrong with my sister lately?"

"You mean Da?"

"Well, I have no other sister, of course I mean Da silly!"

Zhou Yu nodded- he had noticed it too. Everyone could tell something was up. "I wonder if they're having marriage problems… Sun Ce's been a bit wild lately and I don't think Da wants to put up with it any longer. What do you think?"

"I don't know. I'm just glad that we don't have any problems!" She snuggled into Zhou Yu's chest and started to sing a quiet little song to herself. She hoped that Da's problems didn't last too long- when Da was sad Xiao felt down too. If only she could share some of her happiness…

* * *

A sweat drop rolled down Gan Ning's forehead as he lifted the heavy chest around Lu Meng's bedroom. It was odd that Meng had chosen that particular time to have a change around, and Ning didn't see why everything needed to be moved around. Surely it didn't need to be changed? To Ning it was fine as it is…

"Left a bit!"

Ning shuffled to the left a bit struggling with the weight of the chest. "What the hell do you keep in here Meng? Xu Zhu?"

"Actually I change my mind… right a bit!"

Ning muttered something under his breath and dropped the heavy object on the floor in front of him. "I'm not going to be your slave! Who do you think I am?"

"OH SUN JIAN?" Meng called out loudly. "I HAVE SOMETHING TO-"

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I'll do what you say! Anything but that!" He reluctantly picked up the chest again and followed Meng's instructions, while Meng just stood their grinning with a sly look on his face. It was about time things went his way…


	18. The Return of a Familiar Face

**Disclaimer**: As before... Koei owns Dynasty Warriors, but the storyline came from my brain.

A/N- Mmmm, more Crazy Days goodness! I took some advice from one of the reviews (thank you for your reviews! They all make me smile) and added in another character. I think it was **Super 4 C**'s review- thank you! I'll consider adding the others too... I'll see what I can do! ;)

* * *

**Chapter 18: The Return of a Familiar Face**

"Please Dad? Please?"

"Let me see…"

"Pretty please? I'll be good!" Sun Shang Xiang put on her best puppy dog expression and looked up at her father, Going one step further she put her hands up to her chin and used them like paws to make herself look cute. Trying to get her own way with Sun Jian took effort, and lots of it!

Sun Jian wasn't buying anything. "I just don't want you to get hurt again. You've only just recovered and already you want to go out and wreak havoc on Wu. Today's an important day- Ling Tong is arriving and I need everyone in the castle to welcome him- understood?"

His daughter nodded affirmatively, her earrings swinging quite violently from the force of which she was nodding. "I'll be back in time, I promise! It's not like I'm going to go far…"

"I still think you need protection…"

"Dad! I'm not a baby!" Shang pouted. "I was fine yesterday."

"That was only because I sent Gan Ning up there. If I hadn't sent him I'm sure you would've been well on your way out of the castle, am I right?" He nodded to himself as Shang Xiang smirked and looked in another direction. "See? But I guess you seem alright now. You certainly seem perkier than you were yesterday."

"So I can go? Thank you!" She hugged Jian tight and after kissing his cheek jumped around. Before Sun Jian had a chance to stop her she had already ran out of his office and on her way to enjoy her new found freedom.

"Just be careful!" Jian called out as his daughter disappeared from his sight.

* * *

As the massive Wu castle came into view the nervous young general gulped. It wasn't new to him, he had lived here before, but now he was living here too. A couple of years had passed since Ling Tong had been in these surroundings- since then he had been living with his mother in a nearby province, anything to get out of the way of Gan Ning. Tong still mourned for his father but crying wasn't going to bring him back. All he could do was return back to the castle and resume his training because, after all, he was still a general of Wu. He had to, for his father's sake.

The carriage passed the final stretch of forest and entered the castle grounds, and Ling Tong watched the last part of the journey from inside. He could still remember it all- the training grounds, the ponds, the stables- memories came flooding back to him. This was the place he grew up in and it still felt like home. Eventually the carriage ground to a halt and stopped in front of the castle gates. Finally, Ling Tong was back…

* * *

Taishi Ci glanced at the frustrated Wu strategist and tapped his fingers on the surface of the table. "Zhou Yu, just give it up."

"I WILL find the answer!" Zhou Yu slammed yet another book shut and put his head in his hands. "Why do you have such bizarre problems?"

"Have you ever heard of 'odd occurrences'? Maybe it was just a one off, meaning you won't find an answer. Can't you just for once admit defeat? Face it, I'm a lost cause!"

Yu grumbled and failed to respond. He had been given more than enough time to figure out what was wrong with Ci, and he knew that the search had been hopeless. He just wasn't used to giving up so easily. "I suppose so… I'll try another time…"

Ci shook his head. "You just don't get it do you? There is no answer, so there isn't much point in trying again. Just leave it as it is, unsolved and done with."

"But if it's unsolved then there must be a logical explanation out there?"

"You know what? I'll just leave you know. You're starting to drive me mad!" With that Taishi Ci got up out of his seat and left the room, passing Sun Ce who had just entered. Ce looked puzzled as he watched Ci leave the room muttering something under his breath.

"Hey there Zhou Yu, what's up?" Ce walked over and sat himself down in the seat previously occupied by Taishi Ci- he saw that his best friend still had his head in his hands. "Is something the matter Yu biddy?"

Zhou Yu lifted his head up and sighed. "Am I failing as a strategist?"

Ce stared at Yu in disbelief. "What? Of course you're not, that's crazy talk!"

"I hope it is… so why are you here?"

"Because I'm failing as a husband…"

Yu nodded and patted Sun Ce's back upon noticing his down expression. "It's alright; every couple has their rough patches. I know something was up with you two- what do you think is wrong?"

"Apparently we don't do enough things together as a couple, and I'm too into battles and stuff. I can't help it that I'm like that! What am I meant to do? I don't want to lose Da, she means the world to me!"

After a moment thinking Zhou Yu thought of something. "Well, whenever Xiao and I have problems I go to Huang Gai for advice. He may not be married but his words of wisdom speak more than any advice book."

"Huang Gai? Hmm… I guess I could give him a go." Ce looked down at the table and tried to imagine the rest of his life without his wonderful wife. "I need to, my marriage is at stake!"

* * *

A small breeze blew past the large tree as the sound of a carriage approached. Lu Xun knew that it was Ling Tong arriving back in the Wu capital but instead of rushing over to greet him he remained where he was, sitting at the base of the tree. The poor boy's head was a mess, especially after the previous day's events. How could he ever look Lu Meng in the face again? If only Meng hadn't gotten so close… but he had and Xun could still feel the kiss on his cheek. It made him shudder just thinking about it! So now he was avoiding Lu Meng as well as Sun Jian… word had reached him that Jian was still after his blood for the fire. Hiding was all Xun could do until things died down but now that Tong was here he had to show his face eventually. He hoped that all would be forgiven now that Sun Shang Xiang was back to her usual happy-go-lucky self- Lu Xun would have to find out…

The jingle jangle of hells sounded and grew louder and louder as Lu Xun gazed out into the distance. This was just what he needed… not. Gan Ning would only cause more unwanted trouble- trouble that Xun didn't want to be involved in this time.

"Leave me alone Ning."

"Aw, come on Xun, it's only me! Well, me and Lu Meng…"

Lu Xun froze as he felt the presence of two people standing behind him. He continued to look out, avoiding any confrontation. All he wanted to do was strangle the ex-pirate using his string of bells and throw him back out to sea.

"Lu Xun…" Lu Meng stood next to Lu Xun and joined him watching the clouds float by in the sky. "I know that this is going to be extremely awkward…"

"Awkward? Master Lu Meng… you kissed me! Awkward is not the correct word, nowhere near the correct one…"

Meng glared at the grinning Gan Ning standing next to him and punched his arm hard. Ning cried out in pain, allowing the general to continue. "I know, but Gan Ning is now paying dearly for his crime. Perhaps we can think no more of these past… events… and start getting on with things. I would hate for this to come between our working relationship."

Xun looked up towards his teacher. "So I'm still your student?" He smiled weakly as Lu Meng nodded. "Thank you, that's good to hear." He then looked up towards Gan Ning. "How are you paying for this?"

Ning grumbled and hit his string of bells. "Your teacher is blackmailing me into doing his dirty work. Yeah, that's how much of a great teacher he is!"

"I see… well, as long as you're suffering."

"Oh I see how two work! You're taking Lu Meng's side in this I gather…"

"Excuse me? You and Sun Shang Xiang attacked me and forced me into your wicked scheme! Lu Meng and I are the victims in this, not you! Quite frankly Gan Ning you deserve what's coming to you."

Lu Meng chuckled at Ning's blank facial expression. "That's my student!"

Leaning against the tree Ning looked in the other direction to see the parked carriage. "I already have enough to deal with now that Ling Tong's back I really don't need any of this!"

"But what about Shang Xiang?" asked Lu Xun. "What's going on with you two? You two managed to get pretty cosy by the looks of things."

A small blush managed to escape the ex-pirates face. "Actually I haven't seen her since last night. I don't even know what I'd say to her!" He scratched his head in thought. "I'm no good with these things!"

"I doubt that she is either." Lu Xun looked at Ning. "You do realise that Sun Jian will find out?"

"Yeah, but hopefully he won't, if someone keeps his mouth shut."

Meng smiled to himself. "That all depends on someone doing what they're told to."

"So this is the whole blackmail thing?" Xun said once he had figured out the situation between the pair. It then dawned on him that he too could use this to his advantage. "Ning?"

"What d'ya want kid?"

"I don't suppose you could go to Sun Jian and beg for forgiveness on my behalf?"

"No chance!"

"I suppose I could go to him myself and update him with news about his daughter's new love life-"

"Wait a minute!" Ning interrupted the young strategist. "Jian would kill you as he's after you already! You wouldn't go to him and tell him…"

"Believe me, that's a risk I'm willing to take."

Gan Ning felt like bashing his head against the tree until he became unconscious. Things were just getting worse and worse for him. He knew it was a bad idea to go against two of Wu's best strategists- they could think of plans that were far better than an ex-pirate's, that was almost certain/ And now Ling Tong… Tong would still be angry and Ning for killing Ling Cao. It was going to be one of those nights for Gan Ning unless things took a turn for the better, and crossing his fingers behind his back he started wishing that they would…

* * *

"Try not to use up all of your strength my Lord."

"I have more than enough strength! It's this stupid horse!"

"Right…" Zhou Tai watched as Sun Quan struggles to get onto his white steed. It was quite funny to watch Tai had to admit. The young prince had decided to wear extra robes to give others the impression that he was bulky and strong, but it wasn't working well. The extra weight was making it harder for him to get on his horse and actually go to the contest. Finally, after several minutes of trying, Quan succeeded and sat in his saddle in triumph.

"See? It was nothing!"

"Sure…"

The pair rode their horses side by side out of the stables and towards the east gate, ready to leave the castle grounds. The contest would be taking place a few miles away and Sun Quan was all hyped up and ready to go. It was unknown to Sun Jian that his second son and potential heir to the Wu kingdom was off to the contest, and yet another secret was being concealed from him.

"Wait up you two!"

Surprised, Sun Quan turned his head around and saw his sister trot over on her own white horse. "Sis! What are you doing outside? And I see you got your voice back?"

Sun Shang Xiang nodded and eyed her brother up and down. "Yeah, I managed to get out, and is it me or have you put on weight? I know I was inside all day but surely I haven't missed that much? Have you been at the meat buns again?"

"No, I have not put on weight! This is just a disguise. You see, I'm entering a strength contest in the next village and I-"

"You? In a strength contest?" Shang Xiang raised her right eyebrow. "You've got to be kidding!"

Quan pointed to his trusted bodyguard. "Zhou Tai thinks I can do it, don't you Tai?"

Shang Xiang tried her best not to laugh as Zhou Tai turned to look in another direction, wherever as long as Sun Quan didn't see the distinct look of doubt on his face. "I'm sure he does… but can I come along too? I got bored in my room."

"I guess I could use the extra support… couldn't you find anyone to hang out with?" Quan asked as the trio started on their short journey. "Not even Gan Ning?" He failed to notice the redness of his sister's cheeks as he looked forward.

"I… er… couldn't find him," she replied, blushing as she remembered the previous night. She tried to re-enact the scene in her head countless times so she could experience that same feeling again, but she couldn't exactly tell that to her brother. "I guess he was busy and there's nothing wrong with spending some quality time with my big brother, is there?"


	19. Against the Odds

A/N- lol, my first chapter as an official adult! Wow, life is so much harder now... waaaah! This fic will keep me my usual silly self :) This chapter turned out a bit long... I got a bit carried away, which isn't necessarily a bad thing! I'm also waiting for my exam results, so I won't be writing a chapter too near that date (next week), or you'll be able to spot my nervousness in my writing XP Haha, I probably won't be able to keep myself away from the computer knowing me! Anyway, enjoy the long chapter, and I'll do more fluff in the next chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 19- Against the Odds**

Waving their fans around swiftly with the grace of a pair of doves, the two Qiaos performed their special welcome dance for the returned young general. Ling Tong simply stood at the entrance to the castle next to Sun Jian watching the two women and their dancers run around in a rainbow of colour. It was certainly a nice welcome to have considering the long and worrying journey.

"Welcome back to the castle Ling Tong!" Xiao squealed as the dance finished and all of the women jumped with their fans. She giggled as Ling Tong and Sun Jian clapped, while some other officers watching from a nearby window cheered and wolf-whistled. It was enough to make the dancers giggle and blush until they could no more!

"Thanks Xiao, it's great to be back!" Tong bowed politely and turned to face Jian. "Really, this is all unnecessary. Just being here is good enough; I don't need a welcome dance or anything special. It is just me after all!"

Chuckling, Sun Jian put his hand on Tong's shoulder. "Even though you have lived her before it's great to see you back! You've been gone a while so of course we're all happy to see you back and well."

"Yeah, thanks. I guess I did miss this place a lot."

Xiao jumped up and down excitedly, still hyped up from the energetic dance. "Did you miss us Tongie?"

Ling Tong smiled. "Of course I did! It wouldn't be the same without you would it?"

The younger Qiao giggled again and twirled on the spot. "We missed you lots and lots Tongie! You've missed loads here, but Da and I will fill you in on all the juicy details of course! Before you know it you won't even know you've been gone!"

"That sounds great!" said Tong as the extra dancers dispersed, leaving just him, Sun Jian and the Qiaos. "I'll have to tell you all about the things I've done while I've been away. Say, is that pirate still here?"

"Ooh he is… you're still mad at him aren't you?" Xiao saw as Tong nodded with an air of solemnity. "We'll make sure that nothing bad happens between you. I'm sure the last thing you need is a fight going on. Maybe you two can learn to become friends?"

"I really doubt that, but we'll see how things go." Ling Tong sighed and remembered the last time he had encountered Gan Ning. A whole load of shouting had gone on between them and it had almost got to the point where weapons were involved. Thankfully Zhou Tai had come between them to sort things out before it got heavy and potentially violent.

Sun Jian led the way into the dining hall where preparations for the evening were being made. "I'm not sure if Gan Ning wants to be enemies with you anymore Tong, I think it's up to you now to smooth things over." He opened the double doors and let the others enter first before stepping in himself. "I don't really want any inside wars this time around, okay?"

* * *

Sun Quan signed his name on the registration form and decided to flex his muscles a little bit in a desperate attempt to scare some of his competitors away. His sister and Zhou Tai rolled their eyes at his pathetic display, wondering why on earth they had decided to watch this. So far the bet had been that Quan would lose, either with his hand being so badly crushed or crying so much that the judges would have pity on him. Shang Xiang and Tai had bet mainly on the latter…

"Right!" Quan grinned and walked over to his two spectators. "I just have to wait until it's my turn, so until then I guess I'll watch with you two!"

"Sun Quan, my lord…" Zhou Tai looked in the direction of the other men who were also waiting their turn. "These men are huge… they look like they could give even Huang Gai some competition."

"I can take them on any day!"

"But Brother… you don't stand a chance!"

"The gods are on my side today sis, I can feel it!"

Sun Shang Xiang turned away and sighed. Was her brother a complete idiot? He was just standing thinking that he really could defeat these guys! She knew that Quan wasn't the strongest warrior- the Sun family left the strength all to Sun Ce from the looks of things. The three then watched as the first round got under way.

A large, beefy man walked up to the table and took a seat. He stretched his arms and cracked his fingers, getting ready for the arm wrestling contest. Dangerous would have been an underestimated description of him… He roared and the crowd started to cheer. Even more cheering sounded when his equally bulky opponent approached and took his seat.

"Pfft, I could take them on any day!"

To Zhou Tai's surprise it wasn't Sun Quan who had made that remark, but Sun Shang Xiang, who was folding her arms looking at the men as if she could do better. "Lady Sun, they are men. You are…"

"A woman?"

"Well, yes… they are a lot stronger than you."

Shang Xiang laughed and pointed at the taller opponent. "He'd die within minutes on the battlefield…"

"How do you know that?"

"Because I'd be the one killing him!"

"Shush you two!" Sun Quan silenced them. "It's starting!"

As soon as a loud bell struck, the first round started. The two men had their elbows on the small table, each hand grasped onto the other tightly. The two men battled, trying to push the opponent's arm over onto the table. The concentration was starting show as the men's faces started to show signs of great strain. It was so intense that the crowd could see veins bulging out from beneath their skin…

The crowd was divided when it came to choosing who to cheer for. Both men were huge and it looked like either could win, and judging by Sun Quan's face he was becoming less confident about his chances of winning. Within minutes the contest was over, with the taller man triumphing over the shorter one, who was now in immense pain and on the brink of bawling his eyes out. The crowd roared as the winner stood up and thrust his arm in the air and the loser walked away to get medical attention from the doctor on hand. His hand looked as if it had been squashed and mangled, and the crowd booed as he was led away.

The Wu trio then watched the next two opponents battle it out, and once again the result was the same as before- one man would be led away with a crushed hand and a face full of tears.

"Still think you can do it Quan?" asked Sun Shang Xiang. Her brother failed to respond as he looked at the other competitors. Was he being a little too over confident?

* * *

"Hang on a minute!"

Huang Gai put down the weapon he was polishing (blood stains were difficult to come off so he liked to do it often to keep his rod shiny) and headed over to the door. Someone was knocking quite loudly, and Gai hoped that it wasn't something unimportant. This was the only quiet time he had managed to get all week and he wanted to make the most of it. He grasped the handle and opened the door- he was surprised to see Sun Ce standing there with his hands behind his back rather awkwardly.

"You wanted to see me Lord Sun Ce?"

Ce nodded and looked around nervously. "Yeah… I needed your advice on something. Something very important…"

"Oh?"

"I'm having marriage problems…" Ce said as he looked down at the ground sullenly. "I spoke to Zhou Yu and he said that you could help me."

Huang Gai opened his door wider and Sun Ce entered, still looking sorry for himself. He was never the best at sorting out his problems so Gai felt that he had to help. The two paced towards the small table where Gai had laid his weapon and they each took a seat.

"So you're having some problems? How bad are they?"

"Da's saying that I'm a bad husband, and I do nothing including her! She says I'm too into war and stuff like that…"

"Ah I see…" Huang Gai tried to think of something that might help the poor prince. "How about getting in touch with your feminine side?"

Ce's thoughts immediately went back to the hairclip incident. "Oh no… I'm not going through THAT again!"

The old general chuckled as Ce failed to look impressed. "I don't mean it in that way! I mean by doing things for her, like talking her for walks, writing poetry and cooking for her. Things that would be the opposite of what you do, like going to battle and weapon training."

"Right… so I have to do all of that romance stuff?"

"Exactly, and I know just what you can start off by doing."

"And that is?"

"You know that we're having a dinner for Ling Tong's arrival tonight?" Ce nodded, so Gai continued. "We haven't got any table decorations sorted out. The Qiaos are too busy preparing yet another dance so they can't do the flower arranging. That, Sun Ce, will be your job…"

"What?" Ce looked horrified at the thought of even going near flowers. "Why have I got to do that?"

"You want to impress your wife don't you? Plus it's not hard! I can teach you how to do it, it's simple really…" Huang Gai stood up and waited for the reluctant young lord to do the same. Ce, however, didn't budge. "You'll do this if you want to ever see Da smile again!" He grinned as Ce pouted and stood up and got ready to follow. "It's time to save your marriage!"

* * *

Silence filled the air as tension fell. Sun Jian didn't say anything- it seemed that was the same for everyone else who was present at the large table. Glares were just exchanged between the two young rival generals Gan Ning and Ling Tong, and no one dared say anything from the fear of having one of them shout something at them. Xiao Qiao tried her best to put her cheeriest smile on but even the bright sunrays filtering through the library curtains couldn't brighten the mood in the room.

Ling Tong stared evilly at Ning, who was sat directly opposite him. He didn't need to use words to tell the ex-pirate exactly how he felt. Even after the couple of years he had been gone his rage still burned bright. "You murdered my father…" he said quietly, still looking fiercely at Gan Ning.

"Listen kid…" Ning stared back. "I just did my duty. Kill my enemy and protect my allies. As simple as, it doesn't need explaining."

"You don't even have the heart to apologise do you?"

"Apologise? For what? Doing what I was told to do? Do you have to apologise for killing enemy soldiers? No!"

"You're a heartless bastard and I should've killed you when I had the chance!"

Sun Jian sighed as Lu Xun and Lu Meng's joint efforts managed to restrain the angry Ling Tong. The problem has resurfaced and now there was a mini war going on. This was just what he was trying to avoid. Thankfully he could leave Lu Meng to sort Ling Tong out. He still needed to have a word with Lu Xun, but he would lose his cool too easily. Not the best impression to give on such an important day… not that the good impression had been ruined with the disappearance of his children and Zhou Tai. It was the last time he trusted Sun Shang Xiang's promises again!

* * *

"Looooooooseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer! Go home to your mother!"

"Lady Sun, don't taunt the competitors."

Sun Shang Xiang giggled as yet another strong competitor got distracted from her calling and lost the round. The man gave Shang Xiang a death glare before sulking off to a nearby corner. Zhou Tai had warned her about her behaviour, she was destroying the ego and prides of many men by making them lose. They were all after her now…

"Hehe, I'm sorry Tai, but it's so much fun! You should give it a go!"

"No thank you."

"Suits you then… is Quan ready yet?" She looked in the direction that Tai pointed to, and watched as her brother took his seat at the table. He looked terrified, as if he knew the end was coming. It was painful seeing a man that scared. The crowd's cheers couldn't install even the slightest bit of confidence in Sun Quan. They almost laughed as Quan's competitor approached.

The huge man must've been around 7 feet tall, because that was what he looked like next to Quan who was sitting down. His boots made a loud thud sound on the soft ground, and the spectators looked on waiting for the round to start. It would certainly be an interesting one, even if it was quick. Quan looked behind him at Zhou Tai and Sun Shang Xiang- his sister made a "thumbs up" signal to him, and Tai didn't do or say anything. After gulping, he turned to face his opponent, shocked to discover that the large man had taken to baring his jagged yellow teeth to try and frighten him.

"Get ready men!" the judge called, and Quan reluctantly went to take the man's hand, only to find that the man was ready to grab hold of his and squeeze his bulky fingers around the prince's comparatively tiny hand. Quan found that the man's skin was rough and hard, and it was just like touching a dry rock. "One the count of one, two, three… START!"

As soon as the count had ended Quan felt the hand around his clench, trapping his in a fearsome grip. He couldn't fight back, his muscles were too crushed to do anything! He tried to push his arm but it wouldn't budge, the man was too strong. He then realised that he had been wrong to wear extra clothes for the contest, as he now began to sweat buckets underneath the numerous robes.

"Ooh Zhou Tai, I don't think he's going to win!" Sun Shang Xiang exclaimed from the side. "Er… Zhou Tai?" She looked to her side and realised that he had disappeared from next to where she stood. She looked around for a sign of the mysterious general but he couldn't be seen. She looked back to where her brother was competing and couldn't believe what she had seen.

Wooden splinters flew everywhere as the chair that Zhou Tai was holding shattered over the large opponent's head. Zhou Tai was left holding the remaining chair legs as he stood behind the now temporarily stunned man. He took one brief look at the shocked spectators before dropping the chair, running to Quan's side and using one strong arm to carry him away.

Shang Xiang's eyes were wide open and her jaw had dropped- Tai had just attacked the man? Unable to think she blinked, only to find that Tai had dashed straight past her and scooped her up in his other arm. He ran, carrying both Suns, as fast as he could and away to where they had left the horses.

"Tai..." said Quan as he looked at the ground from where he was slung over Tai's shoulder. "You… saved me…" Tai said nothing as he was concentrating more on getting the two Suns out of danger.

Shang Xiang still couldn't get the image of Zhou Tai smashing a chair over the huge man's head. "Wow Tai, I didn't know you had that in you!" She turned her head to her brother. "It's a good thing he saved your skin."

"Yeah… but why did you do it Zhou Tai?"

Zhou Tai took a sharp detour and ran into a woody area out of sight. "It's hard to see my lord cry…"

"I did not cry!" Quan pouted as his sister started to giggle. "Ok, maybe a little tear, but that was it! I swear it was!"

"If you hadn't sweated so much then maybe more tears would have come out of your eyes!" Shang had to hold on to Tai's shoulder in case she rolled off of him from laughing too much. She paused to wipe a tear from her eye. "I still can't believe you did that Tai!"

Zhou Tai shrugged under the weight of the pair, and continued running. In the distance he could hear someone screaming and shouting… looking behind him he could see a seven foot tall man… the same one he had attacked with the chair. He increased his pace as he tried to get away- even Zhou Tai doubted his chances with him!


	20. I Confess

Aie, I'm sorry for leaving this for such a long time! Writer's block is a horrible thing but thankfully I don't get it for too long. I decided to make this chapter longer for 2 reasons… 1- the guilt of leaving it for so long and 2- 20th chapter! It's kind of special… enjoy! I'll try and update soon, I'll be busy the next few weeks, what with moving out and stuff... XP

* * *

**Chapter 20: I Confess**

"Now, put the yellow flower next to the orange one… no not there, next to that orange one…"

Huang Gai stood patiently and watched his new student carefully arrange the flowers in a china vase sat upon the dining room table. Sun Ce was trying his best not to screw this up but he was already showing signs of frustration. Every time he put something in the wrong place he felt like taking all of the flowers out, throwing them away and starting all over again.

Ce stepped back from the display and looked at his arrangement from a distance. After an hour of practicing with several arranging techniques he was pleased with what he had done so far. "So Huang Gai, whatcha think? Did I do a good job?"

"Well, it's better than all of your other attempts, I'll give you that!" Gai nodded as he walked over to admire the display. The flowers were trying to express and explosion of warm colour like a sunset, and it was still hard to comprehend that it had been Sun Ce who had done it. "I think the flowers look better in the vase than in your hair, am I right?"

"Hey, I thought there'd be no more jokes about that incident!"

"Ha ha, I'm sorry Lord Sun Ce! But it was funny!"

The Little Conqueror stepped forward to move a red flower that was starting to droop a little bit. "Thankfully that's all over know, but will Da be impressed by this? It doesn't look like too desperate an attempt to buy her over?"

"It's worth a try, we won't know until she sees it. I think she'll love the effort you've made and she'll probably forget what made her all grouchy in the first place. Here's hoping!"

Ce nodded and moved on to the next empty vase. "Now how many more of these do I have to do?" His eyes nearly popped out of his head as Huang Gai pointed down the large dining table, looking at the fifteen empty vases waiting to be filled. "I'm gonna be here all day!"

Chuckling, Huang Gai turned around and headed towards the dining hall exit. "You'd better get cracking my Lord!" was the last thing he said before leaving the bemused Sun Ce to finish his task.

* * *

With his chin rested on one hand Sun Jian sighed deeply and looked down the table. It was supposed to be full, and his impatience was growing rapidly. He didn't want to give Ling Tong a bad impression but the way things were going… Tong had already made his opinion of the place. Tong was already annoyed at Gan Ning but Jian knew that it wasn't going to change. There would always be tension between the two and there was nothing he could do about that. And Lu Xun was still sitting there as smug as a bug. Jian had to bring the fire up sooner or later, but was now the right time?

"So, Lu Xun…"

"WE'RE SO SORRY WE'RE LATE DAD!"

Jian looked up as he was interrupted, and three figures stumbled into the room. Sun Quan was red in the face and looked like he'd packed on a lot of weight since the morning. Jian looked at him suspiciously, especially as he was now sporting a dark bruised eye. He turned towards Zhou Tai as he sat in his seat next to Quan. He noticed that Tai's knuckles were red and that he had a cut on his face, on the opposite side from his existing scar. Finally he glanced at Sun Shang Xiang, slightly surprised to see that her hair was out of place from her headband and her clothes were covered in grass stained. There was a rip on her shoulder and a sign of a cut there. Once in place the arrivals looked towards the Wu leader and smiled weakly, trying to look as if they had been there all along. Only the sound of Sun Quan trying to regain his breath gave it away.

Quan grinned and took off his hat, trying to get cool under the weight of the extra material. "So, what's been happening?"

Lu Meng was still stupefied by their abrupt arrival, as well as their shock appearance. "What HAPPENED to you guys?"

"Oh… we were out. You know… somewhere…" Quan stood up and took off a layer of clothing. "Whew, is it me or is it hot in here?"

"It's you, believe me… where did you go?" He looked towards Zhou Tai for any clue, and then towards the Wu princess. Neither was saying anything. "Ah, so you snuck out of the castle?"

Tai lifted his hand slightly from the table. "It wasn't like that exactly…"

"So…" Sun Jian interrupted. "You three go out of the castle, and a few hours later you return with all of you looking like you've just come out of a fight!"

"But we won it didn't we?"

Jian glared at Quan after his comment. "You let my baby get into a fight? LOOK AT HER! She has a cut on her shoulder for crying out loud, she could've been KILLED! SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT WENT ON!"

"I will…" Tai coughed, and then continued. "My lord Sun Quan wished to enter one of those strength contests in one of the small towns, so I said I'd accompany him. The Lady Sun wished to follow so she did. We three went to the contest but when we got there the competition was fierce. My lord had no chance, so when it was his turn I attacked his opponent with a chair."

"And then he chased us once he regained consciousness!" Quan added. "We then realised that we were missing the horses, so we had to run back and get them! We ran back and tried evading him, but he was fast! He caught up with us so we had to fight him. He tried going for Shang so I stepped in and he punched me so hard! In the end Zhou Tai beat him senseless while Shang and I got the horses so we could get back as fast as we could… and then we came here. And that's what happened!"

Sun Jian banged his fist on the table, making the generals jump. "How can you be so STUPID?"

"I thought I had a chance! I need to prove myself don't I?"

"Yes, but prove yourself in something you're capable of doing! Not some stupid contest where you're bound to lose and end up risking yours and your sister's life!" He looked towards Sun Shang Xiang. "And you are not leaving the castle for a while young lady. I warned you about getting into danger."

"No!" Shang Xiang protested. "It wasn't my fault it happened!" She pointed towards Tai. "Nothing would've gone wrong if he had just let Quan get beaten!"

"I don't care; you're to remain inside the castle grounds until further notice. I'll inform your bodyguards later. And you three also failed to notice that Ling Tong is with us in this room."

Sun Quan, Zhou Tai and Sun Shang Xiang looked towards the dumbfounded Ling Tong and waved. "Hi Ling Tong," they said in a despondent tone of voice. Tong waved back and reminded himself never to let Quan take him anywhere.

"Now, back to what I was saying…" Jian turned to Lu Xun. "Lu Xun, you know about…"

Just before he had a chance to finish his sentence he was interrupted again, but this time by Huang Gai who had just stepped into the room. "Sorry if I'm disturbing anything, but the cook says that the food is ready. I think it's time to eat now."

"Well I guess we can continue the conversation at dinner then." Sun Jian sighed again and stood up at the head of the table. "Quan, Tai, and Shang Xiang- you three can go and change and get cleaned up. The rest of us will go to the dining room. And just please try not to get into any fights on the way?"

The trio nodded and hastily left the room before Sun Jian decided to shout at them again. He was already ticked off and anything else was bound to send him over the edge. Dinner would certainly be interesting then…

* * *

Waiting outside the dining room Sun Ce stood nervously, hoping that his efforts wouldn't go unnoticed. His hands smelt strongly of flowers and he had a few stray petals scattered on his clothes, but he didn't care much. At least the flowers weren't in his hair! In the distance he caught sight of the generals approaching the dining room so he ran over to join them.

"Hey guys!" he said as he ran over to join his wife. Da gave a little smile and held onto his hand which surprised him; he expected her to bite his head off.

"So I see that my other child hasn't gotten into a fight today?" Jian then smelt the pungent odour of flowers on his eldest son. "Or he's been rolling through a field of flowers instead?"

Ce chuckled as he held Da close, trying to cheer her up more. "Ha ha, no… I decorated the dining table! I arranged the flowers… hey, don't laugh you two!" he said as he noticed his two other siblings, now clean and redressed, about to burst into laughter.

"I take it from your clean hair that you resisted the urge to put them in your hair?" Quan asked before exploding into a fit of laugher with his sister.

"Shut up, I did it for Da!" Ce then looked into Da's eyes and winked. "You'll see when you get inside!"

Sun Jian rolled his eyes and led the group into the large room. Ling Tong followed Jian inside, followed by Ce, Zhou Yu and the Qiao sisters. After Taishi Ci had gone in Gan Ning grinned at Sun Shang Xiang, who in reply blushed a shade of red and walked inside.

"What do I say Meng?" asked Lu Xun before stepped inside. "He knows I left it in there, he's going to kill me!"

Lu Meng shook his head and tried to calm Xun down. "He won't, I promise. He won't do anything like that, but be careful when you explain yourself. He's in a horrible mood right now and, sorry for the bad pun, but he's like a bomb about to go off. Now, go inside or he'll think you're hiding from him on purpose." Xun nodded and sped up to go in, and finally Lu Meng stepped in, closing the door behind him.

Inside the room Sun Jian took his seat and looked down the table. Finally, everyone was where they were meant to and some normality had returned. Ling Tong was sat next to Sun Quan after swapping seats with Sun Shang Xiang; it had been decided that sitting opposite Gan Ning was not the best place for him to be if everyone wished to have a peaceful meal.

"You did all of this by yourself?"

Sun Ce smirked and nodded as Da Qiao admired the work of her husband. The flower arrangements, she had decided, were simply beautiful! Even Xiao, the Wu expert on flowers and all things pretty, had to admit that it was of a high standard. Ce ignored the snickers of the male generals and continued to bask in his glory. He had accomplished his mission of making his wife happy and her face seemed to say it all. She was glowing with happiness and it was all thanks to him. "You really like it?"

"Of course I do Ce!" She looked further down the table at all of the remaining filled vases. "You must've worked really hard, I'm proud of you!" She hugged Ce tightly and kissed his cheek, and in the embrace Ce could see Taishi Ci and Sun Quan make kissing noises and girly poses.

"Well, I'd do it again for you, anything to see you happy!"

Da blushed and started to eat her food. She was eating faster than usual, but Ce put it down to the fact that she must've been hungry. His instincts weren't that great so he couldn't detect any underlying problems.

After eating a few mouthfuls of food Sun Jian resumed what he had been trying to get started- the all important matter of the fire. "Right… with no interruptions, Lu Xun, you know about the fire don't you?"

Lu Xun looked nervously towards Gan Ning and Lu Meng, not knowing what to say. What was there to say, that he had accidentally caused the fire? "Erm… I do?"

"Yes, you do… because I found out that it was you who'd left the bomb in the kitchen, am I right?"

Xun's eyes darted back and forth- he'd been caught. He put his hands nervously under the table and looked down towards his plate. Sun Shang Xiang, in her slightly love struck state as she thought about Gan Ning, looked at her father.

"I know Dad; I'll save you from punishing anyone else. Let's just say Lu Xun's already had his punishment…"

Confused, Jian looked towards his daughter who had a sly look on her face. "What do you mean?"

Shang Xiang sipped a bit of her wine and grinned. "Remember Lu Meng's 'date'?"

"Yes I do… it was Lady Li. What happened to her by the way?"

She giggled and looked in Lu Xun's direction. "She, or he as is the correct term, is sitting just there… just a little prank Ning and I played on Xun and Meng." She looked at Lu Xun's horrified expression and then at Jian. "Whoops, I've said too much haven't I? You might as well punish me again, how about this time you lock me in my bedroom?"

Lu Xun gulped down what wine was left in his cup and buried his head in his arms. Lu Meng glared at Shang Xiang and decided to save his student's blushes. "Sun Jian, while we're all letting out each other's secrets, here's something. Your daughter and Gan Ning are…"

He didn't get to finish what he was saying as Gan Ning covered his mouth with his hand, stood up, and proceeded to drag Meng outside. Shang Xiang quickly slid her chair back and ran after the pair, locking the door behind them.

Sun Jian poured himself some more wine and decided that he was now definitely too old for anymore surprises. As he drank he signalled to Lu Xun. "I think you've had enough now Lu Xun, let's forget about the fire for now. I think we all need to put this behind us… now what's going on with those three?"

* * *

On the other side of the door Gan Ning let go of Lu Meng's mouth and pushed him against the wall, with Sun Shang Xiang standing next to him. "Now Meng… you can't say a thing to Jian about this!"

Lu Meng wiped his mouth and glanced at the pair. "I warned you though about telling everyone about what happened that night!"

"But I didn't tell them that you kissed him, so I believe the deal is still intact." Shang Xiang leant against the ex-pirate's arm and smiled. "We don't mention the kiss, you don't mention us."

"What, so you two are definitely together then?" He watched as the pair looked into each others eyes and nodded. "Hmm, I'd better be careful about my big mouth then."

"Please don't tell him!" Shang pleaded with him. "And don't blackmail us either, I heard what you made Ning do- he's not your slave and neither am I… got that?" She held onto Ning's hand and grasped it tight. "What do you say?"

Meng stood forward from the wall and stood up straight. "I guess so… if Jian found out now he'd probably hit the ceiling and deafen us with his screaming." He rolled his eyes as the couple kissed each other. "You two are pathetic, you know that?"

Gan Ning patted his friend's back as they turned back towards the door. "Pathetic and in love, get it right Meng!"

* * *

Xiao looked worryingly at her sister as she continued to eat fast. Da was now on her second helping and showed no signs of stopping. "Sis, are you alright? You haven't been normal lately!"

The elder Qiao stopped eating and looked at her plate. She looked nervously at Xiao and took a drink. "It's nothing really…"

"Have you been starving yourself? You're eating like a pig!"

"I assure you I'm not a pig. It's just… stuff." Da shrugged and took another mouthful of food. She herself hadn't noticed she'd eaten so much; she'd just had a larger appetite than usual. Of course she hadn't told anyone else that… yet.

Everyone looked up as Gan Ning, Sun Shang Xiang and Lu Meng re-entered the room and sat back down. Xiao snickered as she saw Ning's hand print marked across Lu Meng's face, and Zhou Yu nudged her and warned her not to point it out. She giggled again and went back to eating. "Is everything ok Mengie?" she asked before swallowing her mouthful.

Lu Meng nodded and kicked Gan Ning under the table. "I'm fine Xiao, how about you?"

"Hehe, I'm good! It's Da here that I'm worried about."

Da lifted her head up and nudged her sister. "I told you, I'm fine!"

"But you're not! Look at you; you're eating more than Huang Gai for god's sake! You've been in one strange mood lately, and you got angry at me for picking flowers… what's wrong?"

Everyone's eyes darted towards Da, and it was then she knew she couldn't hide it for much longer. She was beginning to notice the change too, and it was now becoming a reality. She couldn't blame Sun Ce for her problems now… she stood up and faced Sun Ce.

"Ce, I have something to tell you…"

Sun Ce's face went blank, and then turned into one of upset. "You're leaving me? But I worked so hard on the flowers, I swear I did! Please, give me another chance!"

"No no no! I'm not leaving you, why would I do that?" She put his hands in hers, and quickly looked at Sun Jian. "I promise you Sun Jian this shouldn't be anything that would give you a heart attack."

Jian nodded and continued to watch. "That's good; I don't think my poor heart could possibly cope with anymore drama today! Please, carry on…"

Da faced Ce again, holding his hands tighter. "I know I've been in a weird mood the past few days as Xiao pointed out… I'm sorry for taking it out on you, I really am. I never meant to, it's just that you were there at the time, I had to let it out, I'm sorry…"

"It's alright sweetie, I'm your husband, that's what I'm here for!"

"Uh huh… and I was kind of testing you in a way. The thing is... I need you to be more responsible now than I've ever needed you to be. You need to act more mature, for the sake of…" She trailed off, and blushed bright pink.

Ce tried to piece things together in his head but didn't succeed. "So what are you trying to say Da?"

"Erm… I'm… I'm…"

"Hungry?" Xiao jokingly guessed, before she was cut off by Zhou Yu who silenced her.

"No I'm not hungry Xiao…"

"Joining Ce in battles?"

"No Shang Xiang, I told you that before, I'm not doing that!"

"How about giving up dancing?"

"NO!" she bellowed after Taishi Ci gave his incorrect guess. "It's none of those things!"

Ce stood up and faced her himself. "Then what is it?"

"It's… I'm pregnant. We're having a baby!"

Xiao squealed in delight and jumped up, just as Sun Ce smiled and fainted. Da got hugged tightly by her sister as Zhou Yu went to try and revive his sworn brother. The rest of the generals clapped as the room erupted into cheers.

"I'm going to be a daddy…" Ce said dreamily as Zhou Yu repeatedly slapped his face to wake him up. "Daddy Sun Ce…"


	21. Match Made in Hell

A/N- I'm really really really sorry I took absolutely ages in getting this up... my course is so time-consuming -- But I'm managing time better, and I'm trying to get back into the writing spirit. Thanks everyone who kept asking me to update... it all made me put this story further forward in my mind, and actually force myself to get on with typing it up. ) Enjoy! I promise the next instalment won't be months away like this one!

* * *

**Chapter 21- Match Made in Hell**

As Sun Jian stepped out of his room that morning he grinned to himself, the tiger pride showing through his smile. Finally things were going his way! In less than nine months time he would be a grandfather, something he had been waiting a long time for. He'd always wanted to be able to teach someone from a young age the importance of respecting elders, seeing as his sons and daughter had ignored his advice over the years. These things are best told at a young age when their minds are uncorrupted, he thought to himself, wondering about all the fun he could have shaping a mind.

He chuckled to himself as he pulled a small piece of paper out of one of his pockets and opened it up, reading what he had scribbled down on it a few days ago. Jian had scheduled a meeting for the early afternoon with someone quite important in his plan. He had come to realise that times were changing and the family needed to keep up with them. Sun Ce had now done his bit with the forthcoming arrival of his child and Jian's first grandchild, and Quan was dealing with political matters, being the dutiful son he was. But when it came to Shang Xiang, Jian had decided some action needed to be taken. The girl was 18 now, nearly 19 and the nearly the same age as Xiao Qiao. Xiao, however, had been married for over a year now, and Sun Jian was wondering if his daughter would ever get married. It was time to speed things along, and if Shang wasn't going to do it, he would have to arrange something himself…

* * *

"Can you believe it guys?"

Sun Ce burst into the dining room that morning, his smile beaming on his face. He looked like a little boy excited about getting his first weapon, and his feet were barely touching the ground as he jumped around, his hands flapping excitedly.

"Ce… you've told us so many times now," said Zhou Yu over his breakfast, rolling his eyes. "How can we NOT believe it?"

The oldest Sun sibling sunk down into his usual chair with a thud and grinned as his wife followed him, taking the seat next to him. "I know, but still… I'm going to be a daddy! My son will grow up to be a great fighter like his father!"

"What if it's a girl?"

"… Huh?" Ce stared blankly at his best friend, looking confused. "You don't understand- we're getting a boy, to continue the glorious Sun bloodline!"

Zhou Yu put down his spoon and got ready to explain, in simple terms, that you never always got what you wanted. "Ce, it's a fifty-fifty chance it could be a boy or a girl. We have no say in the matter, its luck of the draw."

"What draw? Can't we fix it and make it go our way?"

Da Qiao sighed. "Sweetheart, it shouldn't matter what gender out baby is, as long as it's healthy that's all that matters… right?" She too rolled her eyes as her husband started to sulk, slouching in his chair and eating his breakfast with a scowl on his face. "That attitude isn't what I need right now, you need to understand these things. Besides, a daughter would be good too… someone for me to teach dance and song to, and someone for you to protect and make sure she grows up well!"

"I guess…"

"Ooh! I want a niece!" squealed Xiao, clapping her hands. "That would be sooooo cool! I want to dress her up in dresses and put ribbons in her hair and teach her how to put make up on and show her how to dance and…"

"THAT is why I'm going to make sure I'm a good aunt," interrupted Sun Shang Xiang, pointing at the younger Qiao with the end of her spoon. "We don't need another bright pink girly girl in the castle! I'll teach her how to use weapons, how to defend herself, and all the basics she'll need to become a great warrior… like me!"

"Oh my, no!" Da looked horrified. "No daughter of mine is going out there risking her life and subjecting herself to the horrors of the battlefield! No no no! She'll be taught defence by someone who won't corrupt her mind into wanting to become a warrior."

"Who said that there'd be any corruption?" Shang Xiang smiled sweetly at her sister-in-law, baring her teeth. "You want your daughter to be strong right, in body and spirit? The toughness helps. If I hadn't been trained I would've become… well… like YOU."

"There is nothing wrong with me!" Da looked along the row of Wu generals, hoping for some reassurance. "Guys… is there anything wrong with me?"

Silence followed, with the generals looking nervously at each other. If there was one thing they were definitely sure of it was this… NEVER say anything that might offend a woman. If they were going to ignore this advice, they always made sure that there was a clear path ahead of them and they could run fast. Either that or be prepared to die…

Taishi Ci raised his hand slightly nervously. "Erm… if there's anything wrong with you, it's that you're TOO beautiful!"

Da blushed and smiled, before running over to give him a hug. "Aw, thank you so much!" She glanced to the other side of the table at Sun Shang Xiang. "See, there is nothing wrong with me!"

"That's because he's clearly sucking up! Men only say that to stay on the good side of women… ouch! Hey, what was that for Ci?"

Ci narrowed his eyes as Da walked back to her seat. "Don't ruin it!" he said quietly. "We don't need a moody pregnant woman around here! Do you KNOW what that does to us?"

Shang Xiang scoffed. "You don't even know do you?"

"I do know actually… we males suffer when you and the Qiaos get all moody. It's horrible! Do you think we like being bitched at constantly?"

"I get moaned at by you guys when it happens, so yes." She grinned before taking a sip of her juice, watching as her brother Sun Quan and the other generals laughed. "What? You all moan about it!"

"And what do you think you're doing right now sis?" Quan pointed out, before chuckling to himself. "I pity the poor man who ends up with you as a wife! Actually, I feel sorry for anyone who's married… no offence to all you married ones."

The Wu princess stuck her tongue out at her brother and looked around the table, and gave a smile to Gan Ning, who was sitting further down and opposite her. He grinned back, and tried to look in place with everyone else by laughing. Lu Meng was giving the pair looks too… he hated being blackmailed into secrecy. It would've been great to just tell Sun Jian everything and get it out into the open… but Gan Ning was too good a friend to betray, even if the ex-pirate took every opportunity available to do the opposite.

Suddenly the doors swung open and Sun Jian entered the room, quickly taking his place at the table. He was late, but that was normal… he was never one for punctuality. Cheerful and informal, that was Sun Jian. He helped himself to food, trying not to give anything away to his daughter about his plans…

"Erm… is everything alright Father?" Shang asked, looking warily at his expression. "You're looking at me funny… are you ok?"

Jian nodded and tried his best not to smirk. "Oh everything is fine… you'll see! Just make sure that you're not busy later, I need to talk to you about something important."

"Right…" Shang sighed, realising that she couldn't see Ning later as she had planned. Being a princess wasn't easy she was always following Jian around and helping him out around the castle. It wasn't easy getting the freedom she wanted- she was always told to be somewhere at a specific time and never to be late. Duties and responsibilities… she hated them. "It had better not be anything that would take me away from fighting for too long… I need to get some practice in."

"Of course… like I said, you'll see!"

* * *

The sun shone fiercely down on the courtyard shortly after breakfast, where a small group of the Wu generals were training. To Ling Tong's horror Gan Ning had decided to join them… unknown to him though it was because the Wu princess had business to attend to with her father and wanted to stay inside so she wouldn't be late and have to face the wrath of Sun Jian.

"Do I HAVE to spar with him?" Tong whispered to Lu Xun as they sat beneath the large tree, watching everyone prepare themselves. "Why can't I spar with you instead?"

"I've already agreed to spar with our lord Sun Quan, and Zhou Tai has already arranged to spar with Lu Meng today. You were the only one without an assigned partner so…" Xun sighed before continuing. "… You have ended up with Gan Ning. You'll have to get used to it eventually- you live together now, and the constant fighting will have to end soon!"

Tong leant back against the tree and sulked, crossing his arms and pouting. Lu Xun was right and he refused to believe it… how on earth could he become friends with that man, after hating him for so long? He looked at his rival, standing there ready to fight with his precious sword, and Tong reluctantly stood up and walked over. "I'm only fighting you today because I have to, don't think I'll enjoy this."

"Ha, I could say exactly the same thing to you!" Grasping the handle of his sword Ning took his fighting stance, feet firmly on the ground ready for action. "Are you ready then- HEY!" Ning carefully dodged one of Ling Tongs blows, unprepared for it just yet. The sparring match hadn't even started and Tong was already trying to attack him. "Listen kid, we haven't started yet! What's your problem?"

"You!" Tong scowled, getting into his position. "You're not even prepared, you expect me to fight you?"

"Oh, so this is the way we're going to fight then?" Ning glared at his opponent and swung his sword ready to strike. "Let's give it all we've got then!"

The two men growled as they exchanged blows, clashing hard. Sparks flew as the metal of Tong's nunchaku struck the metal of Ning's sword, and each man knocked back from the force of it all. The other generals watched out of curiosity as the pair ran into each other, each trying their hardest to knock the other down.

"Lousy pirate!"

"Ignorant brat!"

Weapons flew as they tried to attack each other, and suddenly the 'friendly' sparring match wasn't so friendly anymore. Zhou Tai ran over and tried to separate the pair, only to be knocked away as they clashed again. It was only when Sun Quan rushed over and put himself physically between the pair in an attempt to stop them.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" he shouted at the top of his voice, spreading his arms out to push them further apart. "This was meant to be friendly… you know, as in 'not trying to kill each other?"

"It's not my fault that the kid can't control his temper, he's the one not willing to put everything behind him!" Ning straightened himself out before walking over to the tree to calm down. "He needs to grow up if he expects to get anywhere in life."

Ling Tong pouted again and attached his weapon to his waist. "Do you know how hard it is to put your father's death behind you? It's not so easy to forget… I'll never forget what you did Gan Ning. I've had enough- you guys can just carry on sparring without me." He turned on his heel and headed back towards the castle, the anger burning in his face as he clenched his fists tight to suppress his emotions.

"Someone needs to sort that pair out," Quan muttered to Tai, shaking his head as Tong disappeared around the corner. "And I don't want to be the one who has to do it."

* * *

After waiting outside her father's study for around half an hour, Sun Shang Xiang's impatience got the better of her. She was there at the right place and definitely at the right time… what was keeping him so long? She tapped her fingers against the wall as she leant against it, humming to herself, growing bored with waiting. Some officers walked past and bowed to her, before heading in the direction they were going. A few of them even walked past her again having finished what they were doing, and this wasn't a good sign for Shang Xiang.

"So I see you're still waiting?"

Shang Xiang looked up at the floor and up at Taishi Ci, who had parked himself just opposite her. He looked up at the ceiling, before at the door again.

"He's been in there for forever," she moaned, trying to peek through the keyhole to see if she could get a glimpse of him, but to no avail. "How long is he going to be?"

"You mean 'they'." Ci walked over and stood by her, putting his hands in his armour pockets. "It's not just your father in there…"

Puzzled, Shang tore herself away from the keyhole and wondered. "Who else is in there then?"

"My mother."

"… your mother? Why would my father be in a meeting with her? Do you know why they're both in there? Oh…" Shang Xiang giggled to herself and grinned… could it be possible? "Perhaps… my father likes your mother a lot, and they've called us both to discuss their marriage plans?"

Taishi Ci raised an eyebrow before quickly laughing that idea off. "This is my mother we're talking about… I don't think she'd go for your father, even if he is ruler of Wu. She's very loyal to my father's memory, and I'm sure your father is to your mother's."

"True… I don't know where that idea came from! But still, they're taking too long…" Shang Xiang raised a hand to the door and was about to knock it, just as it swung open. She came face to face with her father, and put her knocking hand back to her side and smiled sweetly. "Hello again Father! It's nice to see you after taking so long!"

Sun Jian and Taishi Ci's mother stepped out of the room, and smiled at their children. This wasn't comforting to Shang and Ci however as it usually meant something bad… "My daughter, Taishi Ci… we have some news for you."

"News? What news?" Shang said inquisitively, grinning away. "You two are getting married? Oh, that's wonderful news! I'm so happy for both of you!" She latched herself onto her father, hugging him tight before letting go to clap. "I can't wait for the…"

"Oh no, you've got it all wrong!" Jian interrupted. "It's something… quite different."

"Hmm?"

Jian looked at Taishi Ci's mother and laughed nervously. "Well… you know how you're that age where you should be looking for a husband? We've been talking and…"

"Oh no…"

"… we've thought that it might be best that…"

"… oh heavens NO…"

"… you are married to someone I know and trust…"

"… please NO!"

"… like Taishi Ci."

Sun Shang Xiang screamed and ran down the corridor, her hands over her burning ears not wanting to hear those words, especially the mention of Taishi Ci. What was Jian thinking? Her and Taishi Ci? It was a disastrous match! It wasn't Ci she wanted… why couldn't he have said Gan Ning instead? But then again, her father wouldn't be so willing to let her marry a former pirate. She ran for her room, ignoring everyone she passed… she was determined not to marry him, and if that meant locking herself in her room, then she'd do just that.

Back outside the study, the two parents and Taishi Ci took their fingers out of their ears and looked at each other. Jian and Ci's mother were already prepared for that reaction and had been prepared to block out the noise of Shang's piercing scream.

"So…" Jian started after the silence was broken by the slamming of a bedroom door, which they all took to be the Wu princess'. "What do you think of the idea Taishi Ci?"

"Erm… I can't scream, so I'll just do the running." Ci bowed to the two elders before running in the direction of his room. Jian sighed again, and took a scroll out of his pocket. He read his list quickly, before giving it to Ci's mother.

"We need to sort out the preparations… same time next week?"


	22. The Wedding Planners

A/N- Happy holidays! Christmas is in 2 hours for me, so I leave you all with this update for the holidays. Take care everyone, I hope you all have a nice holiday whether you celebrate it or not, and I'll see you next update! TotallyNuts wuvs you all!

* * *

**Chapter 22- The Wedding Planners**

"It's AWFUL! He's really lost it this time!"

"Hey, just calm down! I'm sure if you screamed that loud he wouldn't go through with it…"

Gan Ning was trying his best to calm Sun Shang Xiang down on his boat, but it wasn't working. She was still angry and letting out little screams like a volcano ready to erupt, and even the odd kiss wouldn't make her settle. Thankfully the chakrams were safe in her room and not in her grasp, or Ning would have been in desperate need of medical attention.

Shang Xiang banged her fist against the cabin wall and took a deep breath. "There's absolutely no way he's making me get married to Taishi Ci… I mean, out of all people!" She seethed and sat herself on the window seat, looking out at the water as the boat rocked to its gentle motions. Her nerves calmed slightly when Ning walked over and sat next to her, trying to comfort her. "I don't think he wants to marry me either, so Father wouldn't force us both into marriage… would he?"

"I don't know… you know Taishi Ci, the filial son… if his mother wants him to marry you, then he'll say yes, unless he actually wants to stand up to her."

"Somehow I don't think he's THAT brave." She looked at him, and noticed that he wasn't looking too happy himself. "Is something wrong?"

Ning shrugged and stared out of the window mindlessly, thinking about earlier that day. "It's just Ling Tong crap again… he won't let it drop! All we do is argue and argue and it's doing my head in. He actually tried to hit me with that weapon of his in sparring today! Your brother had to step in before we really did hurt each other…"

"Wow… have you tried talking to him? You know, taking him to one side and explaining to him that neither of you need this? There are more important things to be worrying about now."

"I would do that, if he ever listened to me! Trying to talk to him is like… I don't know… trying to make you give up your chakrams."

"That's impossible."

"I know… I'll try and find him when he's not in such a sarcastic mood- you know what he's like with his damn comments and backchat. He's just like a child at times." He stretched his legs and nudged his partner a little. "Hey, what are you going to do now? Go back into the castle?"

As much as she didn't want to, Shang knew she'd have to go back. The problem wasn't going to disappear if she simply hid away from it and pretended it wasn't there. She would have to sort it out herself… "I suppose I'll have to, I can't stay here forever. I just need to think of a way to stop my father…"

Gan Ning stood up and led her to the door, before leading the way back to the castle. "You could always tell him about us, maybe that would make him change his mind."

"How so?"

"Well, he doesn't like seeing his little girl upset does he?"

"He also doesn't like seeing his children unmarried and without children." She sighed and crossed her arms, staring at the castle ahead. "Why couldn't he have picked on Quan instead? He's not married!"

"Your brother can choose whoever he wants to get married to, that's the way it is. You're a princess, you're hot property. There's more in it for both sides." He pulled her close, looked around quickly, and kissed her cheek. "But don't worry about it, I'm on your side, we'll make sure nothing happens to you!"

"I hope so…" Shang tried to smile, trying to show some sign that she wasn't going to be defeated so easily. There was only one man she wanted to marry, and it definitely wasn't the sleepwalker.

* * *

The library door swung open fast, one half of it swinging straight into the wall behind with a resounding thud. Ling Tong walked straight into the room, his face still burning red in anger, and slumped into a chair ready to sulk. He just wanted to attack something… he just despised spending any time at all with that pirate! _The sooner everything is over the better_… Tong looked around the room- he hadn't had the chance too when he entered, he had been too busy sulking. He could see around the corner a pair of feet sticking out, so he stood up, leaving his nunchaku safely by a couple of scrolls, and walked over.

"Taishi Ci… I didn't expect to find you here." Tong scratched his head as he looked down at Ci, who was lying flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling. His face was expressionless; he looked like he was at the end of the world.

Ci turned his head slightly to see who it was, before he returned to his original position. "Ah, hello Tong, it's only you…"

"Only me? Are you avoiding someone?"

"You could say that…" Ci groaned and closed his eyes. "Sun Jian is nuts and my mother is just as bad. They're crazy I tell you!"

"Well, we all know that." Tong lowered himself to the ground and sat cross-legged next to his comrade. He leant against a nearby wall and watched as Ci fell silent and sighed deeply. "What happened anyway?"

After covering his face with his hands Ci sat up and pointed towards a portrait of the Sun family. "See that portrait there?" Tong nodded, slightly confused, but he continued anyway. "Well, Sun Jian and my mother seem to think that I'd look perfect in that picture." He looked less than amused at Tong's smirk. "It's not funny! I'm not marrying her!"

"I couldn't say you'd make a great couple, she'd rip you to shreds!" The young warrior took another look at the portrait, and tried to picture Taishi Ci sandwiched between Sun Jian and a smiling Sun Shang Xiang… it just didn't work. Anyone on the castle could've told him that! "It sounds like an absurd idea to me…"

"Sounds like? It IS!" Ci shook his head and was about to lie down again, until the two generals heard in the distance a conversation going on… "Right, I'm out of here!" Ci said quickly, before hastily jumping up to his feet and running for the exit on the other side, leaving Tong quite bemused.

The doors opened again, and none other than Sun Jian entered, with Taishi Ci's mother following. Ling Tong himself wanted to head out of the exit too, but then he realised… he had left his nunchaku on the table! He could always make up an excuse to leave…

Jian however had noticed Ling Tong's movements out of the corner of his eye- a tiger's eyesight was always sharp. "Ah, Ling Tong! Why don't you stay and join us? I'm sure you haven't heard the news yet?"

"News?" He feigned an expression of surprise. "What news?"

"Haha, only the news of my daughter's upcoming marriage to Taishi Ci! Now, we're going to need some ushers… how would you like to be an usher?"

"Well, actually I needed to get somewhere and I-"

"So you want to be an usher?"

"Erm, I really don't know just yet-"

Sun Jian turned to Ci's mother and grinned. "It looks like we have an usher!"

* * *

Upstairs in his private study, someone was hard at work, despite the madness going on elsewhere. Work still needed to be done, and he wasn't going to let a few incidents get in the way of helping running the kingdom smoothly. He lifted his quill pen to sign a few documents when…

"Zhouiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeee!"

The Wu strategist sighed and put down his writing instruments, just as Xiao Qiao giggle and hugged him from behind. She kissed his cheek and squeezed him again, and he smiled. "What brings you here my love?" he asked as she settled down on his desk, trying not to knock everything off.

Xiao grinned cheekily at him as usual, this time showing her teeth- Yu didn't know whether this was a good or bad thing, it usually meant she was up to something. "Oh nothing… it's just that I'll be helping Da a lot with her new baby, when it's born of course!"

"I know that, you're very close to your sister."

"Yes yes! But… if I do a good job, can we have a baby?"

Zhou Yu's face froze- he had never thought about starting a family up until now. Faced with the question, he didn't know what to do! He knew that Xiao loved all things cute… kittens, puppies… and babies. But he wasn't ready for this just yet! He loved his job as strategist and didn't want to give it up for children so soon… "When would this be?"

"Erm… a couple of years?"

"We'll think about it." Yu sighed in relief, slightly surprised by her willingness to wait. She was one of the most impatient people he knew, and that was including himself. He hadn't ruled out the possibility of a family, but he really wanted to wait until Xiao was a bit older- she was still in the stage where she was too bouncy and carefree to be considered responsible enough to be a parent. Yu didn't doubt that she had it in her though… just not yet.

Even though she hadn't got a definite answer, Xiao's face beamed with a huge smile. "That's good enough for me!" She jumped around the room squealing, and then looked back towards her husband, still sat looking her slightly worriedly. "I mean… thank you!" She stood up straight trying to be as grown up as she possibly could, and skipped back out of the room.

Zhou Yu simply shook his head and smiled to himself, almost letting out a laugh. Sure she was childlike, but he found her cute. Like they said, opposites attract…

* * *

"I really hope this works…"

After taking a deep sigh, Sun Quan knocked on the door his brother had stood at only the day before. It seemed that now everyone wanted Huang Gai's advice! But Quan and Zhou Tai hadn't come here for themselves this time. _If anyone can sort out those two_, thought Quan, _Gai can_… Tai crossed arms and looked into the distance- he was wondering about the troublesome Wu pair. This was a friendly kingdom; there was no room for petty arguments and rivalries at all.

Some shuffling could be heard from behind the heavy door, along with some mumbling. From what Quan could hear, it sounded like 'What, more visitors?'. The door opened slightly, and as the large veteran warrior saw who it was it opened more.

"Why, hello my Lord, I didn't know I was so popular these last few days!" Huang Gai glanced at the both of them and scratched his head. "What brings you both here?"

"Gan Ning and Ling Tong."

Gai rolled his eyes, remembering the amount of times Ning had Tong had clashed since Tong had arrived. The pair always had _something_ to say to each other, and it wasn't always necessarily nice. Everyone had grown tired of it all- the sarcasm, the backchat, the disputes. No matter what the point was, they would always debate it. "I see… well, they're both strong warriors, and together they could be quite powerful. We just need to get them to work together. Join forces, as to speak…"

"But Huang Gai," said Quan rather worriedly, "they hate each other to pieces at the moment. They wouldn't last a minute in the same room together, let alone working together on the battlefield! They'd probably turn on each other and rip each other to shreds!"

"Who said anything about working together on the battlefield?" Gai thought over his plan again and chuckled loudly. He stopped when he noticed the expressions on his visitors' faces. "I guess I'll share my suggestion with the both of you… well, have you noticed how under intense conditions you usually end working quite well with someone you don't usually get along with?"

Tai nodded in agreement, having experienced this a lot in his military career. "Yes, but it's usually out of force. You have to work together or you'll both die. On the battlefield of course…"

"Exactly. We just need to create a scenario where the pair will have to work together and combine their talents. To make it more interesting, we can have them 'compete' against another pair, maybe a pair including people they are quite competitive against?"

The pair nodded… it sounded like a good idea, but what was the idea exactly? Something competitive… Quan had a brainwave. "How about team sports? We could have arm wrestling teams?" His smile faded and turned into a pout when Tai coughed loudly, reminding him of what happened the last time. He definitely didn't want a repeat of _that_ situation.

Gai shook his head again and grinned. "That wasn't what I had in mind… it needs to be something where you can work in teams quite effectively, can split jobs up fairly and work together, as well as being competitive."

"Well…" Tai paused to think, wanting to contribute something. "I know that Ning and Lu Meng are quite good friends and they love to compete against each other, so how about have Ning and Tong against… Meng and Lu Xun?"

"After what happened to those two I don't think so, besides Xun would be no good for this."

"I see… Sun Ce?"

"Hmmm… possibly. But he is busy with his wife right now, so we'll ask… I know, why don't you do it my Lord?"

"Me?" Quan didn't know how to react, Gai still hadn't said anything! "Alright then, but will you please tell us what the plan is?"

The elder general nodded and folded his arms proudly. "I'm suggesting a Wu cook off, Gan Ning and Ling Tong versus Lu Meng and Sun Quan. The prepared meal needs to be fit for a king… in this case, Sun Jian. I'll referee, and we'll have some willing generals watching. How about it?"

"Haha, that sounds great!" exclaimed Zhou Tai, trying not to laugh at the idea of Sun Quan cooking. He had never seen Quan cook before… did he even know how to? "When should it take place?"

"Unless we want those two arguing the castle into its doom, I say as soon as possible. Or tomorrow if that's best?" With two nods as his reply, Gai was satisfied. Now all he needed to do was deliver the 'bad' news to Gan Ning and Ling Tong… or find someone brave enough to do that for him…

* * *

Meanwhile back in the library, Sun Jian had enlisted the aid of two more 'volunteers' for his mission. If there were two people in the castle more interested in all things wedding-like and full of romance, it was definitely these two. Jian watched in amazement as the younger Qiao churned out rushed drawing after rushed drawing of ideas for wedding dresses.

"It should either have frills, bows, ribbons… why not all of them? Then Shangie will be absolutely pretty!" Xiao giggled as she pointed out each drawing to the confused male… Jian hadn't got the faintest idea about it. He did what he usually did when he had no idea what was being discussed- nod and smile. "We'll hide her tomboy clothes so she'll have no choice but to wear what we make her wear!"

"I'm not sure she'll be happy about it… what colour did you say that dress was?"

"Pink!"

As Xiao started to colour it in, Da brought out some sketches of hair styles. "Now, I know Shang Xiang has short hair, there's not much we can do to it. I was thinking about decorating her hair with jewels or flowers instead…"

"How about both?" chirped Xiao, her eyes wide and bright. There was nothing she loved more than designing dresses, and especially as it was for a wedding!

"Erm, that wouldn't work too well sis, we need to keep it simple, or Shang will just sulk."

"I have a feeling she'll sulk anyway," Jian moaned as he put his head into his hands. "She ran off screaming when I mentioned the wedding idea… I just want my little girl to be happy and married."

The two sisters looked at him, and then at each other, before whispering things into each other's ears. Giggling followed, along with happy clapping from Xiao. "My Lord," Da said, standing up from her chair, "if you wish, you can leave everything up to me and Xiao! We have experience in such matters, and can organise everything from the groom to the decorations to the food. Just leave it up to us!"

Jian raised his head, and feeling slightly happier he nodded. He now had the cooperation of the Qiao sisters… now he just needed his own daughter to do the same!


End file.
